After attempts to salvage the company’s reputation – including suspending its controversial CEO Alexander Nix and vehemently denying wrongdoing – apparently failed to pan out, Cambridge Analytica will be shutting down, effective today, according to the Wall Street Journal.
SCOOP on https://t.co/1F4iskuBMt: Cambridge Analytica is shutting down, effective today. pic.twitter.com/hZqbZiyRsA
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) May 2, 2018
The company had promised to launch an independent investigation into whether it did anything wrong during its work on political campaigns. But it was also facing a probe from UK data regulators and was also losing clients and facing mounting legal fees.
Nigel Oakes, the founder of SCL Group, the British affiliate of Cambridge Analytica, confirmed that both companies were closing down to WSJ.
The moves followed the release of a video that depicted Mr. Nix touting campaign tactics such as entrapping political opponents with bribes and sex. The sales pitch was captured by undercover journalists at British broadcaster Channel 4. Mr. Nix’s suspension also follows reports that the company improperly used data from millions of Facebook Inc. profiles without authorization.
The business had $15 million in U.S. political work in the 2016 election cycle. Since then, Cambridge hadn’t notched a single U.S. federal political client. It lost several commercial clients in recent months.
The closure comes after recordings surfaced of Nix describing the company’s shadowy methods, including entrapping politicians with bribes and sex workers.
Of course, the closure likely won’t put an end to the investigation and continuing fallout – the bulk of which has been borne by Facebook. We imagine this won’t be the last we hear about Cambridge Analytica.
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