Zuck Says Meta Isn’t a Monopoly…. But Trump’s FTC Appointee Brought a Binder That Strongly Disagrees

Mark Zuckerberg didn’t spend yesterday in the metaverse, or surfing waves in Hawaii like his sunscreen-drenched meme self. He spent it in Washington D.C., wearing a real suit, in a real courtroom, answering real questions about whether he built one of the most powerful tech monopolies in modern history. And based on Meta’s stock price, Wall Street’s getting pretty nervous.

The Federal Trade Commission, now loaded with Trump appointees, has dragged Zuck into court this week to answer one of the most important questions of his career: Did you build Meta by out-innovating the competition… or just by buying them before they became a problem?

Well, unfortunately for Zuck, the government thinks it was the second one. And they have receipts. Literally… emails. Lots of them. One from 2008 had Zuckerberg allegedly writing, “It is better to buy than compete.” Another from 2012 bluntly stated that Messenger wasn’t keeping up with WhatsApp, and Instagram was growing so fast they “had to buy it.” (Nothing screams “not a monopoly” like panic-buying your biggest threats for $20 billion… am I right?)

Now, the FTC wants to unwind both deals. If successful, Meta would be forced to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp… two apps that practically hold the U.S. internet together with duct tape and hot takes. Just to quantify that pain: Instagram made Meta $32 billion in U.S. ad revenue in 2024 alone… nearly half the company’s entire ad biz. WhatsApp trails far behind at $1.7 billion, but it’s a massive beachhead for future monetization. Or it was.

Meta’s defense is that everyone’s on TikTok now. Seriously. That’s the core argument: "We’re not a monopoly, your honor, because teenagers are too busy lip-syncing and getting radicalized on TikTok." They also name-dropped YouTube, X, LinkedIn, and even iMessage as competitors. Zuck described Meta’s role not as a "personal social network," but more of a platform for "entertainment and discovery” (not even sure what that means, but go on Mark).

Now even though the FTC signed off on these acquisitions over a decade ago, they’ve got a new argument: Meta didn’t buy these startups for synergy… they bought them because they were scared sh*tless. Case in point: the acquisition of Glancee, a now-defunct Google social experiment, which Zuck bought out just to make sure it didn’t turn into a real threat.

And yes, the trial is being overseen by Judge James Boasberg… a guy who’s been roasted by Trump, sued by immigration lawyers, and now tasked with untangling whether Meta’s dominance is “market-defining” or just “really good business.” He’s already noted that the FTC’s market definition (a narrow “personal social networking” space) might be a bit too convenient.

Remember ever since he found out Trump was getting elected, Zuck has been playing the long game with Trump. Private dinners, platform adjustments, and public “we love America” messaging have all raised eyebrows. He even lobbied Trump directly to make this trial go away, reportedly showing up at the White House as recently as April 2.

But Trump’s not exactly predictable here. His FTC chair, Andrew Ferguson, said they're “raring to go,” and with Trump firing both Democratic FTC commissioners last month, it’s unclear whether Zuck just lost two allies or dodged a grenade.

So what’s next you ask? This is going to be a slow burn… think 8 weeks of legal jargon, email quotes, and Zuck trying not to say anything too quotable. But if Meta loses, we’re looking at a corporate amputation that could permanently shrink its ad empire and cut the legs out of its stock price (which is already down 11%). And if they win? I really don’t see much upside… expect a carefully worded press release about “innovation,” “freedom,” and “continuing to connect the world” (oh and lots of stock buybacks).

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Stock.News has positions in Meta and Google.