How a $5 bn fine could turn out to be a 'great Investment' for Facebook

Facebook took a $3 billion charge this week concerning a Federal Trade Commission investigation over whether the company violated a 2011 privacy settlement with the agency

Facebook Inc.’s potential fine of $3 billion to $5 billion from a US privacy probe would be a "a great investment" if it allowed the company to corner a market and reap $50 billion in revenue a year, says the European Union’s chief antitrust economist Tommaso Valletti in a Twitter post.

Valletti was commenting on a New York Times article on Facebook’s regulatory problems. The company took a $3 billion charge this week concerning a Federal Trade Commission investigation over whether the company violated a 2011 privacy settlement with the agency.

Facebook paid out a 110 million-euro ($123 million) fine to EU