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Twins from Harvard Had to Settle with Their Facebook Agreement


Federal appeals court said Monday that Former Harvard University schoolmates of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, have no way of undoing their settlement on the creation of the acclaimed social networking site.

The Court of Appeals said that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were technologically knowledgeable enough to understand the agreement they signed in 2008. The deal included a $20 million payment in cash and only partial ownership of the site. One other schoolmate, Divya Narendra, took part of the agreement 3 years ago but decided not to join the twins in the second lawsuit they filed against Zuckerberg.

The settlement’s worth has bubbled to $160 million because of Facebook’s increasing value. The Winklevoss brothers insisted that Facebook’s real value was not disclosed properly when they signed the settlement agreement in their lawsuit claiming they own the original idea of Facebook and Zuckerberg simply stole it from them.

Alex Kozinksi, chief justice of the litigation, said that the twins knew what the settlement entitled during their mediation meeting years ago. The twins even brought six lawyers during the meeting, he said.

Facebook which is now valued at millions of dollars has become a world-wide phenomenon. A networking site that originally started as a way for students of Harvard to keep in touch with each other is now used by almost everyone who has access to the internet.

The social networking site said Monday that they are very happy with the results. Winklevoss twins lawyers said that they are still in the process of reviewing the decision and will then plan their next step. They still have the option of raising the case to the Supreme Court.

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