Facebook’s Q1 2019 financial results may have beat Wall Street
expectations – racking up $15.08 billion rather than the predicted $14.97 – but
its earnings per share was dampened by the $3 billion the company put aside in
anticipation of fines that will be owed to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
for consumer privacy violations.

The company reported per share of 85 cents, which fell far short
of the $1.62 expected by analysts.

“In the first quarter of 2019, we recorded
an accrual of $3 billion in connection with the ongoing inquiry of the
FTC,” according to a company statement. “This matter remains
unresolved, and we estimate that the associated range of loss is between $3
billion and $5 billion.”

The fine would be largest ever levied by the FTC.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., earlier this week said the FTC should find Facebook in violation of its 2011 settlement agreement and hold company CEO Mark Zuckerberg accountable for violating consumers’ privacy, according to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.





Calling Zuckerberg, the “public face” of the social media giant, Wyden wrote in a letter to the commission, that he should be found “individually liable for the company’s repeated violations of Americans’ privacy.”