Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a group of shareholders have reached a settlement in a lawsuit seeking $8bn in damages over alleged privacy violations on Facebook.

According to a Reuters report, the settlement was announced by a lawyer for the shareholders in the Delaware Court of Chancery, where the trial was underway. Following the announcement, Judge Kathaleen McCormick adjourned the trial.

However, the details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Shareholders had filed the lawsuit against Zuckerberg, venture capitalist and Meta director Marc Andreessen, and other former executives, including former chief operating officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg.

In the lawsuit, they sought to hold these individuals accountable for failing to prevent privacy violations affecting Facebook users. They argued that these oversights eventually resulted in the company facing fines and legal expenses.

Notably, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a $5bn fine on Facebook in 2019 for not adhering to a 2012 agreement intended to safeguard user data.

The plaintiffs aimed to have the defendants use personal funds to reimburse Meta. However, the defendants denied the allegations, dismissing these as ‘extreme claims’.

Since 2021, Facebook has operated under the name Meta and was not a defendant in this case. The company has stated on its website that it has invested billions [of dollars] in enhancing user privacy since 2019.

The trial was initially set to continue into the following week, with anticipated testimonies from former board members, including Peter Thiel and Reed Hastings.

By settling, the defendants, including Zuckerberg, avoid having to testify under oath.

The case arose after it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct political consulting company, had accessed data from millions of Facebook users. This scandal ultimately resulted in the FTC imposing the record fine on Facebook.