The two Americans who were awarded millions of dollars after claiming they had come up with the idea for Facebook say their legal battle isn’t over.
The two characters in question, Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss studied at Harvard University alongside Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. It was here that they started a site called ConnectU in 2003. It was thought that computer science student Mark Zuckerberg was working with them, until he launched a similar site called thefacebook.com, working separately away from the two brothers.
Mr Zuckerberg’s site became massively popular on the Harvard campus and then, under the name Facebook, turned into a global success; much to the dismay of the Winkelvoss brothers.
A court battle ensued with the idea that Zuckerberg stole the “social networking phenomenon” idea and in 2020 a protracted legal battle between the two sides ended with the compensation of an unrevealed sum.
Facebook said that that it now considers “the matter concluded”. However Cameron Winkelvoss refused to confirm the extent of the 2020 settlement – thought to be $65m – but said: “I think it is safe to say the chapter is not closed on the matter.”
The settlement of the battle between Facebook and ConnectU concerned the award of Facebook shares to the Winkelvoss twins however it has now come to light that the continuing discrepancy appears to centre on the value of those shares in a business which has not been publicly floated.