Facebook is sued after inventory plunge ‘shocked’ market

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By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Facebook Inc (FB.O) and its chief government Mark Zuckerberg have been sued on Friday in what could be the very first of lots of lawsuits over a disappointing earnings announcement by the social media firm that wiped out about $120 billion of shareholder prosperity.

The criticism filed by shareholder James Kacouris in Manhattan federal courtroom accused Fb, Zuckerberg and Main Economic Officer David Wehner of earning misleading statements about or failing to disclose slowing profits advancement, slipping operating margins, and declines in active buyers.

Kacouris claimed the marketplace was “shocked” when “the truth of the matter” started to emerge on Wednesday from the Menlo Park, California-based mostly organization. He explained the 19 p.c plunge in Facebook shares the subsequent day stemmed from federal securities law violations by the defendants.

The lawsuit seeks class-motion position and unspecified damages. A Facebook spokeswoman declined to comment.

Shareholders usually sue corporations in the United States after unpredicted inventory cost declines, specifically if the decline of wealth is massive.

Fb has confronted dozens of lawsuits more than its handling of user information in a scandal also relating to the U.K. company Cambridge Analytica. Quite a few have been consolidated in the federal court docket in San Francisco.

Thursday’s plunge also strike Zuckerberg’s base line.

Zuckerberg had been tied with Warren Buffett as the world’s fourth-richest person, but the Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) chairman’s current $83 billion fortune tops Zuckerberg’s $66 billion, Forbes magazine stated.

Buffett now ranks 3rd among the world’s billionaires, although Zuckerberg is sixth.

Facebook shares fell yet another .8 percent on Friday, closing at $174.89 on the Nasdaq.

The case is Kacouris v Facebook Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 18-06765.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Modifying by Susan Thomas)

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