Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins who settled with Facebook two years ago in a dispute over the social network&'s origins, were back in court this week trying to undo the settlement.
What makes the case so interesting, besides the inherent drama of the twinsa4¬a4 accusation that Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea, is the fact that Facebook hasna4¬a4t been able to make the Winklevosses go away. In addition to $20 million in cash, they received Facebook shares that are worth an estimated $150 million now. How much more money do they need Especially since, by asking the courts to throw out the settlement, they could end up with nothing
Earlier this afternoon, law professor Steven M. Davidoff cast a skeptical eye on the appeal in The New York Times. There seem to be two parts to Winkelvossesa4¬a4 legal argument: They claim 1) that the settlement wasna4¬a4t sufficiently detailed, and 2) that Facebook didna4¬a4t disclose a low company valuation that made the shares less valuable than the twins believed.
On the first point, Davidoff says it has a4¬Aa surface appeala4¬, since the settlement was just a two-page document, but he said courts have been willing to enforce these types of agreements in the past. On the second point, VentureBeata4¬a4s Owen Thomas has argued that Facebook is playing a4¬Aa dangerous gamea4¬ by claiming it didna4¬a4t have any responsibility to provide the correct valuation to potential shareholders. But Davidoff (who &8212' sorry Owen &8212' probably has a little more legal expertise) sides with Facebook, pointing out that the company never provided a valuation to the twins (so there wasna4¬a4t an incorrect valuation that it needed to correct). The Winklevosses made their own assumption based on a press release. (Yes, really.)
Davidoff concludes by saying that the twins can probably squeeze more money out of Facebook but that they should act soon before their legal case evaporates. Then he gets to the big catch: a4¬ABut this assumes the Winklevosses are economically rational actors and not making the mistake of thinking that the courtroom is going to give them the justice they think they deserve.a4¬
In previous statements, the Winklevosses have suggested that theya4¬a4re more interested in a4¬Athe principle a4¬¦ that Mark stole the ideaa4¬ than in making money. That, of course, could be a strategy as well, but the fact that the twins are pursuing this case at all suggests that it might not be. I suspect that what want theya4¬a4re really pursuing is recognition, either from Facebook or in court, that they were the brains behind Facebook.
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Companies: Facebook
People: Cameron Winklevoss, Mark Zuckerberg, Tyler Winklevoss
Companies: Facebook
People: Cameron Winklevoss, Mark Zuckerberg, Tyler Winklevoss
Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
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