Metaβs Victory Opens the Way for Silicon Valley to Go Deal Shopping NYT: Technology By:Eli Tan Β· Mike Isaac and Erin Griffith 18 November 2025 at 17:56 To avoid regulatory scrutiny, big tech companies had steered clear of buying start-ups outright. Metaβs antitrust win may change that thinking. Β© Jason Henry for The New York TimesMark Zuckerberg, Metaβs chief executive, in September. On Tuesday, a federal judge found Meta had not violated antitrust law by buying Instagram and WhatsApp when they were tiny start-ups.