Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes is helping U.S. regulators evaluate whether the social media giant ... [+]
Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes spent much of the last decade funneling parts of a fortune made from his early stake in the social network on forays in journalism and civic projects. But Hughes, worth more than $400 million, never put Facebook completely behind him.
The 35-year-old entrepreneur has met with the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and other U.S. regulatory agencies that are grappling with how to reign in the power of Facebook’s vast network, according to reports from the New York Times and Washington Post.
Hughes, who shared a dorm room with Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard in the nascent years of the company, is reportedly working with New York University's Scott Hemphill and Columbia University’s Tim Wu on his campaign.
According to the Times, Hughes has walked regulators through a 39-page slide presentation that makes a point-by-point legal case for breaking up the social network based on decades of antitrust law precedent. Hughes says Facebook’s serial defensive acquisitions, including its purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp, were designed to squelch competition. Facebook disagrees, arguing that the deals were “investments in innovation.”
This is just the latest from Hughes in a tidal wave of criticism he’s mounted against the company that made him rich. In May, he wrote a widely-shared op-ed in the New York Times titled “It’s Time To Break Up Facebook.” In the story, Hughes writes, “the financial rewards I reaped from working at Facebook radically changed the trajectory of my life, and even after I cashed out, I watched in awe as the company grew. It took the 2016 election fallout and Cambridge Analytica to awaken me to the dangers of Facebook’s monopoly.”
It’s an unusual stance for a company founder to advocate for breaking up the business he helped create. Hughes worked with Facebook for three years before leaving in 2007 to work for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Forbes estimated Hughes’ net worth at $700 million in 2012, the same year as Facebook’s initial public offering, which included about $100 million from sales of Facebook shares prior to the IPO. Hughes went on to sell most of his Facebook shares by the end of 2012. In 2016, Forbes dropped his estimated net worth to $430 million.
Hughes founded a social network for nonprofits called Jumo in 2010 and sold it one year later to publishing company Good. He then purchased the New Republic for $5 million in 2012 and invested another $20 million in the magazine before selling it in 2016. Since then, Hughes has been leading the fight against Facebook while supporting his universal basic income think-tank, Economic Security Project.
On Wednesday, the FTC announced it reached a record-breaking $5 billion settlement with Facebook for violating consumer privacy rights. Facebook’s stock jumped about 3% in after-hours trading following the announcement.
