Facebook market capitalization has surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in its history.
A federal court rejected federal and state antitrust proceedings against Facebook, saying the federal suit was “legally insufficient.”
Following the judgment, Facebook market capitalization surpassed $1 trillion, and the stock increased by more than 4%.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) failed to prove that Facebook had monopoly power in the social-networking market, according to Judge James Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
He also dismissed a case filed by several US states, claiming that they waited too long to oppose Instagram and WhatsApp’s acquisitions in 2012 and 2014, respectively.
“Although the court does not agree with all of Facebook’s contentions here, it ultimately concurs that the agency’s complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed,” the judge stated in response to the FTC lawsuit.
“We are delighted that today’s decisions highlight the flaws in the government allegations made against Facebook,” a Facebook spokesperson said.
The Federal Trade Commission had claimed that Facebook had broken antitrust rules by acquiring young firms like Instagram that it saw as a threat to its dominance, as well as deterring others from using Facebook’s services.
Facebook joins Apple, Microsoft, Google parent company Alphabet, and Amazon as the fifth U.S. company to reach the milestone.
After a favorable legal verdict dismissing the antitrust complaint, Facebook’s stock rose 4.2 percent to $355.64.
Facebook’s first public offering (IPO) took place in May 2012, with a market capitalization of $104 billion.