Cameron (left) and Tyler Winklevoss
Marion Curtis/Startraks
A Ninth Circuit court ruled Monday that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins who claim Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for a social network that became Facebook, were not allowed to back out a settlement they received from Facebook in 2008.
The twins, whose story was dramatized as part of the plot of David Fincher's Oscar-nominated film The Social Network, received a settlement estimated to be worth $65 million. As part of the deal, the Winklevoss twins received partial ownership of Facebook.
But the two claim they would not have settled, and argued that Facebook didn't disclose the "true" value of its stock, which they allege was four times higher.
Facebook counterargued that the Winklevoss twins were suffering from "settler's remorse," and the Ninth Circuit agreed. "The courts might have obliged, had the Winklevosses not settled their dispute and signed a release of all claims against Facebook," wrote Chief Judge Alex Kozinski in his opinion. "At some point, litigation must come to an end. That point has been reached."
