The Federal Trade Commission said it would drop Mark Zuckerberg from a lawsuit filed last month seeking to block Meta Platforms Inc. from buying a small virtual-reality company.
In return, the Meta
META,
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chief executive agreed not to purchase the startup, Within Unlimited Inc., and its fitness app called Supernatural, in his personal capacity or through any other entities he controls, according to a court document filed Tuesday.
Last month, the federal agency said that Meta, the parent company to social-media apps including Facebook and Instagram, is already a key player at every level of the virtual-reality sector as it seeks to build out the so-called metaverse.
The FTC alleges that Meta and Zuckerberg are nonetheless trying to expand the company’s virtual-reality empire by buying the fitness app, a move that they say violates antitrust laws and lessens competition.
Meta had asked the agency to remove Zuckerberg from the lawsuit.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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