Jason Kint Profile picture
Nov 13, 2021 15 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Facebook news - amended complaint filed to what I previously called "Mother of all lawsuits" - insider trading allegations tied to FB knowingly leaking data for $, paying $5B to cover it up, governance failure, etc. I'll add more context in 15 tweets and link to prior thread. /1
It includes maybe ten new paragraphs - many in insider trading and governance failure sections. Includes new heavily redacted details regarding Facebook's "board" setting up an alleged scapegoat "Special Committee" just in time to settle for $5 billion and protect Zuckerberg. /2
Reminder, the allegation is this was done to avoid Zuckerberg being deposed or having his communications subject to discovery. To end the SEC and FTC lawsuits. There is also new info on the settlement and how many orders of magnitude larger it was than prior settlements. /3
All sorts of board members bailed in that time period. The lawsuit claims it was in part due to "clashes with Zuckerberg." Again, the board, the committees, the special committee, everything pretending to hold Zuckerberg accountable is controlled by Zuckerberg. /4
Many of the allegations relate to people both benefiting and failing in their governance roles. eg it adds a # to Sheryl Sandberg's stock trades during the cover-up in the insider trading allegations allegations. It's a whopping $1.6 billion. /5
There is actually an entire list of defendants in the lawsuit categorized as the "Insider Trading Defendants." Narrator: it's generally good to avoid being labeled this way. /6
Also new is a bunch of detail on one of Zuckerberg's board members who is a partner at WilmerHale. That's insane to me since they represent Facebook in many of its most sensitive lawsuits, coached Zuckerberg when he testified and reportedly do a lotta influencing on Congress. /7
It also adds details on how Peter Thiel has benefited being on the board. When Facebook was opening its platform providing its incredibly valuable data to other companies, some of them were Thiel investments being given special access according to the allegations. /8
On that note. Reminder much of case dates back to Facebook's slowing growth ahead of IPO. They were "running out of humans" as Sam Lessin (yes, that one) noted to Zuckerberg in emails only to regain scale for advertisers by trading on their access to users' personal data. /9
As they opened up platform data, FB whitelisted and gave special access to apps which were categorized as "Mark's friends" and "Sheryl's friends" among others. It's hard to underplay the economic and relationship value of being on those lists. But no, they didn't *sell* data. /10
When Cambridge Analytica happened, leadership and PR flipped out on the word "breach." They likely did this because it didn't fit California's definition of a security breach which would require notification. Instead, the platform was leaking data by design for profits. /11
This is also new. Zuckerberg and Sandberg's admission of direct responsibility. I assume this is intended to set up why it would be wrong to simultaneously be responsible and also drive the decision to pay Billions to settle and protect their own liability from a cover-up. /12
A couple other random notes. Who knew Peter Thiel gets to decide how much Zuckerberg gets compensated? Sleep well my friends. /13
I also didn't know Papamiltiadis left just a couple months ago at the same time he was being named in these lawsuits. I betcha he has an interesting story to tell. /14
OK, that's all for now. Here is a link to my full thread from when this lawsuit was filed by very large pension funds after winning rights to inspect Facebook's books including actual messages between its board and leadership during the cover-up. /15 /eof

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More from @jason_kint

Jun 17
Woah. Exhibit list just posted for Facebook trial in DE starting in a few weeks. We finally have confirmation Sheryl Sandberg was deposed by the SEC - one week prior to Zuckerberg which also kept secret until a lawsuit unsealed it. Sandberg was also sanctioned in this case. /1 Image
This matters as it gets at Who Knew What When at FB ahead of the world finding out its platform was leaking personal data for years. Zuckerberg was dodgy at best under oath to Congress, FB responses to Parliaments focused on 2018 news. But exhibits include Jan 2017 MZ emails. /2 Image
The DE lawsuit claims Facebook's $5 billion record settlement was inflated in order to protect its CEO, Zuckerberg, and also includes (civil) insider trading claims. Zuckerberg was ordered to sit for multiple day depo this year, will have to testify live. /3 Image
Read 20 tweets
Jun 15
Scanning front pages across America this morning. Still today, the local A1 best captures the biggest story of the day. The majors from NY to LA to Detroit to even Arkansas. /1 Image
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From Washington DC all of the way up to the major newspapers in Alaska… the No Kings protest images are everywhere capturing the moment. /2 Image
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All of them capture peaceful protest, democracy in action, and what America is all about at a time when social media algorithms may distort what the day was all about. Illinois to Colorado. /3 Image
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Read 11 tweets
Jun 10
Incredible work being done by the press to keep facts building on facts. Grateful. This entire WSJ report overnight starting with this lede on how White House orders sparked LA crackdown is both chilling and informative. /1 Image
This statement. “We came to the United States for protection of what we encountered in Russia. It seems that we are encountering here what we fled.” /2 Image
WSJ separating out cases of targeting groups who have not committed crimes but even noting here incredible resources being used against what appears to be clear, First Amendment protected activity alerted the community. Here is the must-read report. /3 wsj.com/us-news/protes…Image
Read 6 tweets
May 28
Confession. Having watched Scott Pelley's outstanding work over nearly three decades, I almost didn't take the time to watch his W.F. commencement speech thinking the news reports told me enough of the facts. Frankly, that would have been a huge mistake on my part. Huge. 1/5
Disclosure: I'm a 60 Minutes fan. In fact, I read Don Hewitt's "Tell Me a Story" after nearly a decade in sports media and it likely tipped the scale in 2007 when I decided to jump to work at CBS. I find Pelley and team brilliant in telling stories in barely 15 min segments. 2/5
“If liberty means anything at all, it means telling someone something that they don’t want to hear. I fear there may be some people in the audience who don’t want to hear what I have to say today but I appreciate your forbearance in this small act of liberty.” - Scott Pelley 3/5
Read 6 tweets
May 16
wow, another order for Mark Zuckerberg to sit for another court deposition. This time in a case involving privacy violations with ingesting web-wide health data. Remember they paid billions in cases to try to avoid this. Data and privacy issues are especially sensitive. /1 Image
Zuckerberg depositions are interesting as they often go on for hours with highly informed attorneys driving for answers. And those answers may be put up against the often questioned veracity of his answers to Congress. Yes, as a CEO, he has testified to Congress A LOT. /2
I think his first real depo was SEC on very sensitive data scandal leading to $5B+ settlements with FTC+SEC. That scandal is still playing out in courts (did he overpay to protect himself?) It took 3yrs to get unsealed after I caught it in a footnote. /3
Read 7 tweets
May 13
The Verge comes in with a massive scoop on the backstory reporting it was Musk - and Sacks - behind the scenes trying to blow up IP to train AI on behalf of his allies. This wouldn't be a surprise to anyone. /1 Image
they have reports and details on the carnage and firing of the leadership and on the possible incorrect assumption that the new people in charge were running their playbook. /2 Image
It may be rare that @mrddmia is in agreement with Dems but in the world of accountability for big tech abuse whether over data, monetization, IP, censorship, privacy, you name it, these aren't partisan issues. appreciate the shared voice from advocates all around. /3 Image
Read 5 tweets

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