Meta closed with a market cap below $600 billion on Tuesday for the first time since May 2020. The stock fell about 2%, inking it in stock market history by losing over $230 billion of market cap in one day. Headwinds to recovery include hints that Meta could potentially shut down Facebook ($FB@US) and Instagram in Europe because of increasing regulation and Apple privacy features that let iPhone users opt-out of tracking features on Meta, reducing ad revenue. However, it looks like losing all that money might have a bit of a silver lining in that Meta’s new lower market cap could help it wiggle out of government antitrust liability laws. How could that happen? Bills in Congress targeting big tech consider a “covered platform” as a company over a certain market cap threshold, under which Meta has just slipped. With its lower value, Meta would not be subject to those antitrust rules in the bills currently working their way through the legislative system actually become law.
