Mark Zuckerberg, head of Meta, predicted an antitrust case threatening the company with division back in 2018. According to Engadget, an email presented in a Washington court revealed that Zuckerberg wrote in 2018 about a “significant chance” of Instagram and possibly WhatsApp* being forcibly split off within 5–10 years.
These remarks came on the second day of his testimony in a case initiated by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which accuses Meta* of monopolizing the social network market by acquiring Instagram* in 2012 for $1 billion and WhatsApp* in 2014 for $19 billion.
The FTC claims that Meta* pursued a “buy or destroy” strategy to eliminate competitors and maintain dominance. If the court supports the case, Meta* may be forced to sell Instagram* and WhatsApp*, undermining its advertising business that generates $160 billion annually. Zuckerberg defends the acquisitions, arguing they improved the apps and pointing to competition from TikTok and YouTube. In the 2018 email, he also noted that company splits often lead to growth.
*Belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.
