Ankara: Meta executives including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg are set to appear before a US corporate law court this week. Shareholders allege that board mismanagement led to billions of dollars in penalties following the Cambridge Analytica scandal from the 2010s, as reported by the Financial Times.

According to Anadolu Agency, the proceedings are scheduled to begin on Wednesday in the state of Delaware. Among those expected to testify are high-profile individuals like investor Marc Andreessen, former board member Jeff Zients, investor Peter Thiel, former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault, and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings.

A small group of minority shareholders at Meta argues that the company's directors intentionally allowed insufficient privacy safeguards, violating a 2012 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) agreement designed to protect user data. The defendants, however, reject these claims.

The legal action stems from the Cambridge Analytica incident, where a political consulting firm gained unauthorized access to user information through an external application. The shareholders are seeking compensation connected to Meta's $5 billion settlement with the FTC in 2019, claiming the board protected Zuckerberg by accepting the penalty without a thorough internal review.

Additionally, the shareholders allege that Zuckerberg engaged in improper trading of billions in company shares, based on confidential information regarding Meta's unauthorized data-sharing practices.