Monday, April 11, 2011

Federal Bench Denies Winklevii Appeal

First off, as a Father of Twins (FoT), I learned early that it is bad form to refer to twins as "Twins", "The Twins", etc.

Therefore, the Breitbart website adds a little more pepper to the pot by referring to Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss as the "Winklevoss Twins" as it reported that a panel of Federal judges have denied their appeal to overturn their previous settlement with Facebook, which was pivotally captured in this year's film, "The Social Network" which was directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin based at least in part on Ben Mezrich's "The Accidental Billionaires."

The ruling by three Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges stated: "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." "At some point, litigation must come to an end," the judges continued. "That point has now been reached."

Ouch.

However, the Winklevosses inked a settlement two years ago that got them $20 million in cash and $45 million worth of stock valued at $36 per share. Breitbart reports that the value of that yet-to-be-issued stock has skyrocketed along with Facebook's estimated market value, which was placed at $50 billion early this year, the judges noted in their ruling.

"With the help of a team of lawyers and a financial advisor, they made a deal that appears quite favorable in light of recent market activity," the judges said.

Nevertheless, while the battle may have been a struggle comprised of equal parts of pride, fair play, competition and sour grapes on all parts, clearly the Winklevii did well enough to keep them in macons and cleavers for the foreseeable future. 
Row, boys, row.

Link here