Winklevoss Twins Lose Facebook Suit

Audiences watched the Winklevoss twins’ and Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg’s on-screen conflict unfold in the Academy Award-winning film, The Social Network. On Monday, a court finally settled their real-life drama. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District ruled in favor of Zuckerberg and Facebook upholding the 2008 settlement.

In the 2008 settlement, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and their partner Divya Narendra, pictured, the Winklevosses agreed to a $65 million settlement for dropping their lawsuit against Zuckerberg. In that suit, the Winklevosses alleged that Zuckerberg stole their idea for a social networking website called ConnectU while students at Harvard. Zuckerberg denied these claims.

The Winklevosses and Narendra more recently argued the 2008 settlement invalid and that Facebook did not reveal the an accurate valuation for the company that since 2008 has grown from $160 million to more than $50 billion.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinksi said, "The Winklevosses are not the first parties bested by a competitor who then seek to gain through litigation what they were unable to achieve in the marketplace, and the courts might have obliged, had the Winklevosses not settled their dispute and signed a release of all claims against Facebook."

The Winklevosses may de-friend Zuckerberg on Facebook, but settlement in hand, their courtroom drama seems to be finally over. –MEREDITH GANZMAN