The Winklevii are back! Twins who accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing Facebook launch ANOTHER suit against him - The twins who have accused Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing the idea for the website from them have re-started their bitter legal battle against him.
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss - who both now have Facebook accounts - claim their $65million settlement is not enough because their former friend lied to them about the value of the company.
The also claim that Zuckerberg is guilty of securities fraud and are demanding he pays them an unspecified amount of extra cash.
Angry: Cameron, left, and Tyler Winklevoss leave a Boston court in 2007 during their first suit against Mark Zuckerberg. After settling for $65million they have now launched a second suit
Facebook has rebuffed their claims and says in legal papers that the 29-year-old twins, famously labelled the 'Winklevii' in the film 'The Social Network', ‘suffered a bout of settlers' remorse’ after the original deal.
The prospect of the acrimonious row spilling out in public again would be acutely embarrassing for Zuckerberg and Facebook.
His supposed betrayal featured in blockbuster film The Social Network, which dramatised the events surrounding the birth of the website.
Under fire: The twins accuse Mark Zuckerberg, above, of stealing the idea for Facebook from them in 2003
The latest legal papers filed at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, say the case threatens to end in ‘scorched Earth’ litigation should it go before a judge.
Facebook’s filing claims that the original settlement agreement ‘is enforceable because it clearly communicated the parties' intention to be bound and the terms were definite.’
The company claims the twins ‘admit that they calculated the value (of
Facebook) themselves, based upon a truthful press release from several months earlier’.
‘Their fraud claim is based on omission: they fault Facebook for not volunteering a more recent - and, they claim, lower - valuation of different Facebook stock.
‘They insist that their sworn enemy had some special duty to open its books and volunteer any information that bears on the value of this closely held company,’ it adds.
It was in 2003 when all three parties were studying at Harvard University that the twins say they asked Zuckerberg to write the code on their own social network, called Harvard Connection, or HC.
They claim that he then started his own rival called thefacebook.com which - renamed Facebook - went on to become the biggest website of its kind in the world with more than 500million users and revenues of $800million.
They sued and in 2008 reached a settlement reportedly valued at $65million but they now believe they're entitled to more.
The enmity between the twins and Zuckerberg has not helped by the enormous riches heaped on him over the last few years.
According to the latest Forbes rankings, he is the 35th richest American with a personal fortune of $6.9billion.
Such a sum means he has more money than Apple founder Steve Jobs, at the age of just 26. ( dailymail.co.uk )
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss - who both now have Facebook accounts - claim their $65million settlement is not enough because their former friend lied to them about the value of the company.
The also claim that Zuckerberg is guilty of securities fraud and are demanding he pays them an unspecified amount of extra cash.
Angry: Cameron, left, and Tyler Winklevoss leave a Boston court in 2007 during their first suit against Mark Zuckerberg. After settling for $65million they have now launched a second suit
Facebook has rebuffed their claims and says in legal papers that the 29-year-old twins, famously labelled the 'Winklevii' in the film 'The Social Network', ‘suffered a bout of settlers' remorse’ after the original deal.
The prospect of the acrimonious row spilling out in public again would be acutely embarrassing for Zuckerberg and Facebook.
His supposed betrayal featured in blockbuster film The Social Network, which dramatised the events surrounding the birth of the website.
Under fire: The twins accuse Mark Zuckerberg, above, of stealing the idea for Facebook from them in 2003
The latest legal papers filed at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, say the case threatens to end in ‘scorched Earth’ litigation should it go before a judge.
Facebook’s filing claims that the original settlement agreement ‘is enforceable because it clearly communicated the parties' intention to be bound and the terms were definite.’
The company claims the twins ‘admit that they calculated the value (of
Facebook) themselves, based upon a truthful press release from several months earlier’.
‘Their fraud claim is based on omission: they fault Facebook for not volunteering a more recent - and, they claim, lower - valuation of different Facebook stock.
‘They insist that their sworn enemy had some special duty to open its books and volunteer any information that bears on the value of this closely held company,’ it adds.
It was in 2003 when all three parties were studying at Harvard University that the twins say they asked Zuckerberg to write the code on their own social network, called Harvard Connection, or HC.
They claim that he then started his own rival called thefacebook.com which - renamed Facebook - went on to become the biggest website of its kind in the world with more than 500million users and revenues of $800million.
They sued and in 2008 reached a settlement reportedly valued at $65million but they now believe they're entitled to more.
The enmity between the twins and Zuckerberg has not helped by the enormous riches heaped on him over the last few years.
According to the latest Forbes rankings, he is the 35th richest American with a personal fortune of $6.9billion.
Such a sum means he has more money than Apple founder Steve Jobs, at the age of just 26. ( dailymail.co.uk )
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