Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified this week that Snapchat could have seen faster growth if it had accepted Facebook’s acquisition offer more than a decade ago, according to court coverage by Business Insider.
Speaking during Meta’s ongoing antitrust trial, Zuckerberg reflected on the social media giant’s failed attempt to purchase Snapchat in 2013. While contemporary reports cited a $3 billion offer, court documents now reveal the bid was closer to $6 billion.
“I thought Snapchat wasn’t growing at the potential that it could,” Zuckerberg said under questioning by a Federal Trade Commission attorney. “For what it’s worth, I think if we would have bought them, we would have accelerated their growth, but that’s just speculation.”
The FTC raised the abandoned acquisition as part of its broader argument that Meta has routinely sought to buy out emerging competitors to maintain its dominance in the social media space, rather than engage in open competition.
The agency is pressing for Meta to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, contending that the company’s acquisitions strategy—totaling billions of dollars—was designed to quash competition and build an unlawful monopoly.
