The Winklevoss twins, close to Zuckerberg in the early years of Facebook, have seen the possibility of asking for new compensation from the social network giant fade away. A ruling has established that Mark Zuckerberg is the sole owner of Facebook.
End of the new judicial chapter opened by the twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss against Mark Zuckerberg: the San Francisco Court of Appeal has ruled, summarizing the dispute.
For those who have not followed the case, let’s take a step back: the Winklevoss twins, friends of Zuckerberg during college days and thus the early days of Facebook, in 2004 initiated legal action, accusing the social network’s founder of stealing their idea behind Facebook.
The controversy continued until 2008, when the parties reached an agreement: Zuckerberg offered a substantial settlement which the twins accepted. It was reported as 65 million, split between cash (around 20 million dollars) and company shares (the remaining 45 million dollars).
The matter seemed therefore settled to mutual satisfaction but recently Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss decided to file an appeal, aiming to revisit the 2008 agreement for a new solution.
The subject of dispute this time is the current valuation of the revenues generated by Facebook: the twins requested a review of the hefty settlement amount, adjusting it to the updated economic-financial assessments of Facebook, which are even more rosy and thriving than in 2008. Moreover, they stated that in 2008, Zuckerberg undervalued Facebook. However, it was pointed out that FB’s value was publicly assigned by the twins themselves who now claim to have deduced it from a press release issued some time before. Hence the accusation against Zuckerberg of having made public valuations that did not reflect reality, according to the two accusers.
The San Francisco Court of Appeal, however, rejected the twins’ request for 150 million dollars, ruling that the sole owner of Facebook is Mark Zuckerberg and deciding that the terms of the agreement should not be reopened, since the settlement already received is more than adequate, even in relation to current data: indeed the value of Facebook shares has increased over time, so in some ways the twins are already receiving a surplus over the 2008 compensation.
At the moment it is still unknown whether Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss will file an appeal to the Supreme Court, the highest level of American justice.
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