Good morning from the Financial Times.
Today is Wednesday, November 19th, and this is your FT News Briefing.
Meta notched a significant legal W yesterday,
and the European Union is trying to play catch up with critical minerals.
Plus, Elliott Management sees a golden opportunity with Barrick Mining.
Now we'll get there, I promise.
I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.
Meta does not hold an illegal monopoly.
That's what a U.S.
judge ruled yesterday.
The Federal Trade Commission brought an antitrust case against Meta back in 2020.
The agency wanted the company to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
But Judge James Bosberg said that the FTC failed to sufficiently prove that Meta gained monopoly power through a quote,
buy or bury strategy.
Meta argued, hey, of course we compete.
Rivals like TikTok and YouTube are vying for eyeballs too.
Metashare price jumped after the ruling was announced,
but still ended the day down nearly three quarters of a percent.
Critical minerals that are used in things like magnets and batteries are now a source of tension in the U.S.-China trade war.
And the availability of these minerals, or lack thereof,