Facebook expects to pay FTC up to $5 billion (!!!) for privacy violations

We now know just how high Facebook's "record-setting" FTC fine could be.

Facebook expects to pay between $3 billion and $5 billion to the FTC as the result of an investigation into its privacy policies. The company disclosed the potential fine to investors in its first quarter earnings report.

It was previously reported to be a "record-setting" fine by the Washington Post, which recently reported the agency is also seeking to hold Mark Zuckerberg personally accountable for Facebook's privacy violations. Facebook's Q1 disclosure marks the first time the company has commented publicly on the amount of the fine.

The fine will be a record for the FTC, which has never hit a tech company with a fine that large (though non-tech companies have been fined larger amounts in the past). While that's certainly embarrassing, it's not as bad of news as it may seem. Facebook brought in more than $15 billion revenue this past quarter alone, exceeding analyst expectations. It also added 39 million daily active users to its platform.

Wall Street also appeared to be mostly unbothered by news of the fine, with Facebook stock at one point surging more than 10 percent in after-hours trading following the report. If the gains hold, Facebook will add several billion dollars to its value overnight.

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During a call with investors, Facebook CFO Dave Wehner cautioned that the actual amount of the fine "remains uncertain." In addition to the fine, the agency could also impose new rules on the company. The FTC investigation kicked off last March, following Facebook's disclosure that Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed millions of users' personal data.

Elsewhere, Facebook is still grappling with a number of other privacy scandals and investigations into its policies. Besides the looming FTC fine, there's the question of whether Zuckerberg himself will be put on blast by the agency. There's also an SEC investigation, a federal criminal investigation, and inquiries from European regulators.