Cambridge Analytica Shuts Down After Facebook Data Scandal
Staffers told to return their computers
Meriah Doty | May 2, 2018 @ 11:30 AM
Last Updated: May 2, 2018 @ 12:14 PM
CEO of Cambridge Analytica Alexander Nix speaks at the 2016 Concordia Summit, New York City (Getty Images)
Cambridge Analytica, the data company hired by President Trump’s 2016 campaign, announced on Wednesday it is closing its business after it said it misused Facebook user information.
The British political firm announced it had “filed applications to commence insolvency proceedings in the U.K.” and was “immediately ceasing all operations.” Cambridge Analytica added “bankruptcy proceedings” would soon take place in the U.S.
The story was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Staffers were told to return their computers, according to the WSJ.
Cambridge Analytica has been losing clients since March, according to the Journal, when it was pegged to the massive Facebook data leak. The political firm paid University of Cambridge professor Aleksandr Kogan for data on the personality makeup of millions of Facebook users leading up to the 2014 midterm elections. Facebook revealed last month up to 87 million users had their profile information unknowingly grabbed.
“Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations and, despite the company’s efforts to correct the record, has been vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas,” the firm said in its announcement.
Cambridge Analytica went on to use its harvested data to assist the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The firm pulled in $15 million during the 2016 election cycle, but has failed to grab a single dollar from an American political client since then, according to the WSJ.
Soon after Cambridge Analytica’s data grab was revealed in March, the firm suspended CEO Alexander Nix after the exec was caught bragging about using bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians on behalf of his clients. The firm opened an investigation into whether Nix had acted inappropriately; the investigation concluded on Wednesday, with the firm concluding the unsavory accusations were not “borne out by the facts.”
6 Tech Giants Shaking Up News, From Jeff Bezos to Laurene Powell Jobs (Photos)
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.
Jeff Bezos – Washington Post
The Amazon founder purchased the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million in cash. President Trump has called the paper the “Amazon Washington Post.”
The Facebook co-founder purchased The New Republic in 2012, becoming executive chairman and publisher. However, he sold the venerable political magazine to Win McCormack in 2016, saying he "underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate."
The eBay founder is a well-known philanthropist who created First Look Media, a journalism venture behind The Intercept. Inspired by Edward Snowden's leaks. Omidyar teamed up with journalists Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to launch the website “dedicated to the kind of reporting those disclosures required: fearless, adversarial journalism.”
The PayPal co-founder doesn’t own a news organization, but he makes this list because he essentially ended one -- Gawker -- proving once again the power of an angry billionaire. Thiel secretly bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media because he was upset that the website once outed him as gay. Hogan won the defamation lawsuit against the site that sent its parent company into bankruptcy, and Gawker.com is no longer operating.
OK, so Facebook isn’t technically a news organization… yet. However, the company is preparing to launch its much-anticipated lineup of original content later this summer, and there are also signs that it's on the verge of becoming an even bigger media platform.
Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships at Facebook, confirmed last week it’s developing a subscription service for publishers willing to post articles directly to Facebook Instant Articles, rather than their native websites.
Tech is increasingly intertwined with news, for better or worse
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.