Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the chiseled Harvard grads who claim Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from them, have spent approximately the last nine years attempting to prove that claim in court. “When did persistence start to be viewed as a bad thing?” Cameron once asked Intel Jessica. And he meant it. The twins have proven they have stamina, if nothing else. In 2004, they sued Zuckerberg and settled for approximately $65 million ($20 million in cash and $45 million in Facebook shares), before asking a federal appeals court to undo the initial settlement so they could sue again for more money, “on principle.” In December of 2010, they began deliberately trashing Zuckerberg in the New York Times. In April, a judge at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the twins’ appeal, in which they claimed they were misled about the value of the company’s shares. “At some point, litigation must come to an end,” the judge explained. The Winkelovoss twins disagreed. Later that month, a federal appeals court declined to even review a challenge to the previous ruling. And still the two rowed on.
We’re not saying that just because they’re Connecticut-bred, Ivy-educated, privileged, and good-looking, they have a significant inability to comprehend the possibility that they may not get what they want — as that would be a cheap shot about their background, and this case is about whether their $65 million settlement was fair or not — but the twosome decided the right next move would be to file a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. Until today, when they changed their minds and, finally, said fuck it:
It’s unclear whether the twins plan to pursue the case any further, but Facebook, which has stayed mum throughout the twins’ legal proceedings, released a fairly biting statement:
“We’ve considered this case closed for a long time. We’re pleased to see the other party now agrees.”
And in our heads, Cameron Winklevoss released the response, “You know what? We still have a $65 million settlement and these biceps.” And life went on for all parties.
Winklevosses Drop Facebook Fight, Keep Settlement [Bits/NYT]
