If you're successful, there's no shortage of people who will demand a cut of your success. With the Winklevoss situation nearing its close (one hopes), Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg can move on to some of the many other claims of people who say they own a piece of Facebook. If you don't recall, beyond the Winklevi, there have also been claims by a guy named Aaron Greenspan that Zuckerberg copied his idea for a Harvard-focused social network. And, perhaps even more bizarre is the claim from a guy named Paul Ceglia that he owns 84% of Facebook.
That guy claims that he had hired Zuckerberg to work on an unrelated project, and as a part of that, Mark asked Ceglia to invest $1,000 in his "Harvard facebook" project, in exchange for 50% of the company, with an additional percentage point added for each day it was delivered late. Ceglia claims that TheFacebook launched 34 days after the targeted date, and thus he deserves 84% of the company. Just as the courts were shoving the Winklevi off, Ceglia has refiled his lawsuit with more details, including alleged emails between himself and Zuckerberg concerning the investment and development of the site. The whole thing sounds more than a bit preposterous, and Facebook has claimed that the whole thing is faked, but the new emails make for interesting reading in light of the claims by the Winklevi that Mark got the idea from them. At the very least, if the emails are accurate, it sounds like Zuckerberg was working on the concept well before they were.
And while the whole thing still sounds unlikely (would Zuckerberg really be naive enough to give up 50% of a company for $1,000?), it would make for one hell of an interesting legal situation if the court determined otherwise. Of course, Facebook would clearly argue that it wouldn't matter due to statute of limitations reasons, but can you imagine how the courts would try to unwind things?
Of course, even if Ceglia won (which he almost certainly won't), don't forget that there's another guy, named Andrew Logan, who claims that he owns anything Ceglia was involved in due to a separate legal dispute, so that 84% really belongs to him.
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That guy claims that he had hired Zuckerberg to work on an unrelated project, and as a part of that, Mark asked Ceglia to invest $1,000 in his "Harvard facebook" project, in exchange for 50% of the company, with an additional percentage point added for each day it was delivered late. Ceglia claims that TheFacebook launched 34 days after the targeted date, and thus he deserves 84% of the company. Just as the courts were shoving the Winklevi off, Ceglia has refiled his lawsuit with more details, including alleged emails between himself and Zuckerberg concerning the investment and development of the site. The whole thing sounds more than a bit preposterous, and Facebook has claimed that the whole thing is faked, but the new emails make for interesting reading in light of the claims by the Winklevi that Mark got the idea from them. At the very least, if the emails are accurate, it sounds like Zuckerberg was working on the concept well before they were.
And while the whole thing still sounds unlikely (would Zuckerberg really be naive enough to give up 50% of a company for $1,000?), it would make for one hell of an interesting legal situation if the court determined otherwise. Of course, Facebook would clearly argue that it wouldn't matter due to statute of limitations reasons, but can you imagine how the courts would try to unwind things?
Of course, even if Ceglia won (which he almost certainly won't), don't forget that there's another guy, named Andrew Logan, who claims that he owns anything Ceglia was involved in due to a separate legal dispute, so that 84% really belongs to him.
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