While most people would be ecstatic with $65 million, the Winklevoss twin's pursuit of an increased settlement award from Facebook was denied by a judge today.
Earlier today, U.S. District judge Douglas Woodlock in Boston dismissed a motion filed last month by the Winklevoss twins and Divya Narendra that claimed Facebook suppressed evidence during the first lawsuit brought by the brothers. The original lawsuit was dropped after the three men settled out of court for $65 million. As Facebook is estimated at being worth $100 billion today, the Winklevoss twins claim that they are owed more money based on the current valuation.
This latest blow to the Winklevoss twins may finally put an end to litigation against Facebook. Made popular by David Fincher’s The Social Network, the original dispute stemmed from a claim the Zuckerberg stole the concept of Facebook from ConnectU. If the decision has been made in the favor of the Winklevoss twins, it’s estimated that the settlement would be increased to nearly $500 million. In June, the Ninth Circuit court in San Francisco dismissed a claim from the Winklevoss twins that Facebook intentionally misled them regarding valuation of the company. The twins decided against appealing that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The twins were under fire this week when former Harvard president Larry Summers insulted the two brothers in an interview at the Brainstorm Tech conference. Summers is quoted as saying “One is that they’re looking for a job and have an interview. The other is that they are an a**hole. This was the latter case.” The Winklevoss twins and Narendra responded to this comment with a letter to the current president of Harvard Drew Gilpin Faust, specifically calling for a public admonishment of Summers.
An attorney for the group stated that the court’s decision was expected. Narendra and the Winklevoss twins haven’t commented on the most recent court loss publicly. Both the Winklevoss twins have Twitter accounts, but recent posts have only complained about Larry Summers as well as interest in an upcoming cameo on The Simpsons.
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