Facebook Inc. lost $74.66 billion in market capitalization this week, after news broke that Cambridge Analytical had acquired and improperly handled data from about 50 million members. Amid a broad market sell-off Friday, Facebook closed down 3.3% to $159.39 in the regular session. Facebook’s week-long decline underscores the gravity of the Cambridge scandal. Lawmakers have asked for hearings and testimony from Facebook executives and users have staged something of a digital revolt under the Twitter Inc. hashtag #DeleteFacebook. Even billionaire Elon Musk’s companies Space X and Tesla Inc. apparently deleted their Facebook pages Friday after users called for Musk to take action. Days after the crisis broke March 17 and after relative silence from the company, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg went on a public relations offensive Wednesday to quell user and investor fears. Facebook stock fell 14% during the week, as the benchmark S&P 500 index dropped 6%.
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