yahoo news | Staggering amount wiped from Mark Zuckerberg's fortune as Meta stock falls after...Meta’s shares slumped nearly 5 percent on Friday, erasing more than $20 billion from Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth after the company suffered two consecutive courtroom defeats. The blows sent Meta’s stock down about 13 percent for the week and stripped roughly $119 billion from its market capitalization, knocking the Facebook and Instagram owner out of the top seven U.S. firms by market value for the first time since 2023. Zuckerberg, who holds roughly a 13 percent stake, saw his fortune fall to $182.5 billion – a $21 billion drop in a single day – making him the biggest loser on the Forbes Real‑Time Billionaires list.The first verdict came from a New Mexico jury that found Meta liable for failing to protect children from sexual predators, imposing $375 million in civil penalties. A day later, a California jury concluded that Meta and Google’s YouTube deliberately engineered addictive app features that harmed a now‑20‑year‑old woman, awarding $4.2 million in damages. Both rulings center on the companies’ design choices that keep kids hooked on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and they signal a potential “new era in internet litigation” that could open the floodgates for thousands of similar lawsuits.Investors are nervous that these landmark cases could trigger a wave of litigation reminiscent of the tobacco industry’s legal battles, threatening further financial hits for Meta and its peers. The company, along with Google, has announced plans to appeal the decisions, but the pending lawsuits across federal and state courts — alongside a high‑profile case slated for June in California over addictive apps disrupting education — suggest mounting legal exposure for the social‑media sector. The broader implication is a shift away from the historic practice of shielding platforms from liability, as courts increasingly hold them accountable for designs that endanger young users.Read more: https://nypost.com/2026/03/27/business/20b-erased-from-mark-zuckerbergs-fortune-meta-stock-falls-after-back-to-back-court-losses/#markzuckerberg #meta #facebook #instagram #forbes
