Facebook becomes a trillion dollar company

Facebook became the fifth US tech firm to surpass a market capitalisation of $1 trillion on Monday.

The social network joins Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Google's parent company Alphabet in reaching the milestone.

The company's shares closed up 4.2% at $355.64, according to CNBC, following a legal ruling that dismissed an antitrust complaint brought by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a coalition of 48 state attorneys general.

The case threatened to untie Facebook from its WhatsApp and Instagram acquisitions because of the competitive advantage it allegedly holds over rival firms. The FTC sued the social network in December 2020, arguing that Facebook engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly with these acquisitions. However, the Federal Court ruled that the FTC failed to prove the central argument of its case.

"Although the Court does not agree with all of Facebook's contentions here, it ultimately concurs that the agency's Complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed," reads the filing from the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

"The FTC has failed to plead enough facts to plausibly establish a necessary element of all of its Section 2 claims - namely, that Facebook has monopoly power in the market for Personal Social Networking Services."

The dismissal led to Facebook shares rising and ultimately pushed its market cap over the $1 trillion mark. The firm makes most of its revenue through targeted advertising but it is starting to reap rewards with its business segments, such as Workplace, its enterprise communications platform.

Despite finally reaching the landmark, Facebook remains far behind the likes of Amazon and Google, which are pushing the $2 trillion mark - a valuation that only Apple and Microsoft have topped, so far.