If you saw The Social Network (the movie), then you know who Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss are. In The Social Network cast, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are played primarily by Armie Hammer, with Josh Pence providing a second body for whichever of the Winklevoss brothers wasn’t the primary twin in a given scene. Now Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who maintain that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stole Facebook from them, tell the rest of the Winkelvoss side of the story.
In an interview with the Telegraph’s Celia Walden, the Winklevoss twins explain, first of all, that despite their very serious allegations, and their ensuing lawsuit, against Mark Zuckerberg, they don’t hate him.
Explains Tyler Winklevoss, “Hate is a strong word. It’s also very destructive, so no – I don’t hate Mark Zuckerberg.”
Adds Cameron Winklevoss, “We just feel sad for him, because I’m not sure that he’s capable of understanding the concept of morality.”
Ouch.
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But, if the gist of The Social Network is to be believed, it’s not an entirely unfair observation, and quite possibly has, at least, some element of truth.
Says Cameron, “…they did so much research, and it was all true. Mark could have challenged the studio but can you imagine that first day in court? ‘So did you not screw over Eduardo, Mr Zuckerberg? And did you not screw over the Winklevosses – and, in doing so, make millions of dollars?’ ”
All told, the twins say that it was a relief to have their side of the story told.
When they first conceived of the system that was to become Facebook, “A friend suggested we talk to Mark about the project, so we did. We were very focused on rowing while we were at university, but our futures could have taken a different turn for us had he not breached our trust,” explains one of the twins.
“We know that Mark’s intentions were malicious because he deliberately strung us along, so it was premeditated,” adds Tyler. “Also we’ve seen leaked instant messages from Mark at the time strategizing about us.”
“But a lot was left untold, because it hasn’t yet been written in life, so it’s still unclear what the ending will be.”
In 2008, Facebook paid approximately $65million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Winklevoss twins , however the Winklevoss brothers claim that they have since discovered that Zuckerberg did not disclose certain relevant information at the time, and so have asked to reopen the case, looking to sue for an amount rumoured to be in excess of $500million.
Insisting that it’s not about the money, however, they say that “We’ve always felt that if we didn’t step forward and tell people what this guy had done to us, he would just go on acting that way to other people. Plus it would make us feel like quitters.”
“They held back information when we settled in 2008. Plus the equity of the shares we received was one fourth of what it should have been, so now we’re prepared to risk the money we won in the settlement to get what we should have been given at the start.”
In the meantime, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are preparing for the upcoming Olympics, in which they are hoping to take home gold in the rowing competition.
And, they have started up their own, new social network: Guest of a Guest, focussing on high society life in New York, LA, and the Hamptons.
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