Mark Zuckerberg and his social media giant, Meta, reportedly considered acquiring Kalshi before ultimately deciding to develop its own prediction market platform.
Meta, which operates Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, held talks with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour last year, three undisclosed people with knowledge of the meetings told the media outlet NPR.
Both Zuckerberg and Mansour were present at the talks, the sources said, but the discussions ultimately broke down.
Arena: Meta’s In-Development Prediction Market App
The reports come just days after leaked documents exposed Meta’s plans to develop an AI-powered prediction-market app called Arena.
Several major US media outlets say they have seen internal documents showing plans to allow users to trade contracts on future events.
The Meta plans suggest a just-for-fun model that makes use of a virtual currency that has no monetary value.
However, reports about the model are incomplete, with some unnamed sources claiming Meta has not ruled out expanding Arena to include real money trades.
Sources also added that Meta has immediate plans to apply for an operating permit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The CFTC claims it alone has the power to regulate and issue permits to prediction market operators. States, tribes, and some US Senators, however, believe otherwise.
The NPR sources did not say when or where the talks took place. And the same sources gave conflicting reasons why a possible takeover bid never emerged.
Some of the sources claimed Mansour vetoed the deal, while others said Meta got cold feet. Zuckerberg was concerned about the legal and ethical questions surrounding Kalshi, these anonymous individuals said.
NPR said Kalshi and Meta both refused to comment on the veracity of the reports.
Meta-Kalshi Cooperation Continues
Despite the allegations of failed takeover talks, Meta continues to enjoy a good relationship with Kalshi.
In March, the firms struck a deal to integrate Kalshi trading features on the Meta-run social media platform Threads.
Meta has remained silent about its purported plans for prediction markets. The leaked internal documents contain no information about the types of markets Meta wants to offer.
Nor did they suggest Meta has plans to let Arena users predict the outcome of major sporting events.
Meta has previously come under fire for reportedly generating up to $16 billion annually from illegal gambling and scam ads.
Last year, Reuters reported that Zuckerberg personally intervened to allow Chinese companies to promote a range of scams, including illegal gambling sites, on Meta platforms.
Kalshi Fighting Fires
Kalshi, meanwhile, continues to fight legal battles across the US. Several attorneys general have tried to sue the operator or block it from offering its services in their states.
Late last month, a US lawyer backed the Kalshi-Michigan AG case to end up in the Supreme Court.
A Michigan judge has ruled in favor of the AG, forcing Kalshi to temporarily stop offering sports contract trading in the Great Lakes State or pay a $120,000-per-day fine.
Kalshi said it would comply with the order, but plans to fight it in court.
