Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy

  19 May 2018    Read: 1159
Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy

Cambridge Analytica, the embattled data firm that worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Thursday.

The firm voluntarily submitted a petition to declare bankruptcy at the US Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York.

The filings note an estimated number of creditors between 1-49, estimated assets of $100,001 -- $500,000 and estimated liabilities of $1,000,001 - $10 million.

The company has come under fire over allegations it misused the personal Facebook data of millions.

The company has likewise struggled with the fallout of undercover recordings by Channel 4 News in the UK that showed executives at the firm discussing Cambridge Analytica's efforts on behalf of the Trump campaign and the lengths to which they said they would be willing to go for prospective clients, including then-CEO Alexander Nix suggesting they would "send some girls around" in order to obtain compromising material on a hypothetical candidate.

Cambridge Analytica said in a statement in March it was suspending Nix and has denied it misused Facebook data for the Trump campaign.

In a statement announcing their closure in early May, the company stood by its actions, saying it maintains "unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully," but that "the siege of media coverage" had driven away its customers and suppliers.

"As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business, which left Cambridge Analytica with no realistic alternative to placing the Company into administration," the statement read.

Controversy around Cambridge Analytica's alleged misuse of Facebook data raised a host of new questions about the social media giant's role in the public discourse and elections, and helped prompt renewed scrutiny in Washington, where last month Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before committees in both houses of Congress.

 

CNN


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