"Facebook twins" lose appeal for more settlement cash

Apr 11, 2011, 23:28 GMT

San Francisco - The twins who claim that Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from them lost their appeal Monday to increase the cash they received from the billionaire Internet magnate as part of their legal settlement.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, whose role in the founding of the leading social media site featured prominently in the film The Social Network, had argued that Zuckerberg misled them about the value of the company prior to their 2008 settlement.

But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said that the settlement was fair and should be allowed to stand.

'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,' Judge Alex Kozinski wrote in his 11-page opinion. 'For whatever the reason, they now want to back out. Like the district court, we see no basis for allowing them to do so.'

Facebook is now estimated to be worth some 50 billion dollars, and the shares that the twins received in the 2008 settlement are now estimated to be worth some 160 million dollars.

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