- FTC seeks to split Instagram and WhatsApp from Meta over antitrust concerns.
- Zuckerberg is lobbying Trump directly to avoid trial, which starts April 14.
- Meta’s $1.3 trillion empire could face a dramatic restructuring.
- Experts say settlement chances are slim due to the FTC’s aggressive posture.
Meta’s Last-Minute Maneuver: Zuckerberg Tries to Avoid Landmark Antitrust Showdown
Washington, D.C. — With just days to go before a potentially historic courtroom battle, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in a high-stakes race against the clock. At the heart of the conflict: a federal antitrust trial that could dismantle his $1.3 trillion tech empire, separating key apps Instagram and WhatsApp from the company he founded.
The trial, slated to begin Monday, April 14, pits Meta against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — reinvigorated under President Donald Trump’s second term — which claims that Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were calculated moves to eliminate emerging competition rather than innovate.
According to Emarketer, Instagram alone brought in $32 billion in U.S. ad revenue in 2024, accounting for nearly half of Meta’s total income. Losing it would be nothing short of catastrophic for Meta’s financial engine.
Facing this existential threat, Zuckerberg has made repeated visits to the White House, personally appealing to President Trump in hopes of brokering a last-minute settlement. But so far, there’s no clear signal from the administration.
Reports from The Wall Street Journal, Politico, and The New York Times suggest that the president has yet to decide whether to settle or move forward with the trial. The decision rests heavily on FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Trump’s appointee, who told a recent Y Combinator conference that he would “obey lawful orders” from the president — but also expressed confidence that Trump supports strong enforcement of antitrust laws.
Legal observers aren’t holding their breath for a handshake deal.
“A settlement looks unlikely,” said Barry Barnett, a seasoned antitrust litigator at Susman Godfrey. “The FTC has done an enormous amount of work to prepare. This is not the kind of case you walk away from casually.”
The numbers bear him out: 518 docket entries, 37 trial days scheduled, and what Barnett calls the “all-or-nothing” nature of the FTC’s argument suggest a scorched-earth legal brawl is imminent.
Adding further weight to the government’s case, NYU antitrust professor Eleanor Fox said the facts point to deliberate monopolistic strategy.
“Zuckerberg clearly chose acquisition over competition,” Fox said. “That’s exactly what antitrust law is designed to prevent.”
Zuckerberg, who was seen arriving at Trump’s inauguration on January 20 amid a swirl of legal and political uncertainty, now faces the toughest challenge of his career. Whether his political outreach will translate into policy — or merely a public relations footnote — remains to be seen.
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