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Cameron Howard Winklevoss (born August 21, 1981) is an American rower who sued Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, for $140 million. He competed in the men's pair rowing event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with his identical twin brother and rowing partner Tyler Winklevoss. Winklevoss co-founded HarvardConnection (later re-named ConnectU) along with his brother Tyler Winklevoss and Harvardclassmate Divya Narendra. He is also a co-founder of social media website GuestofaGuest with Rachelle Hruska.
Early life and education
Cameron Winklevoss was born in Southampton, New York, and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut.[1] His father, Howard Markham Winklevoss, was a professor of actuarial science at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania,[2] and is the author of Pension mathematics with numerical illustrations, and founder of Winklevoss Consultants and Winklevoss Technologies. Cameron began playing classical piano at 6 years of age, which he studied for 12 years.[3] At an early age, he (left-handed) and his identical "mirror-image" twin brother Tyler (right-handed) demonstrated a pattern of teamwork, building Lego together and playing musical instruments.[4][5] At the age of 13, they taught themselves HTML and started a web-page company, which developed websites for businesses.[6]
Winklevoss went to the Greenwich Country Day School before attending the Brunswick School for high school.[7] He showed a fondness for the classics in high school, studying Latin and Ancient Greek. During his junior year, he co-founded the crew program with Tyler.[8][9] He matriculated to Harvard University in 2000 for his undergraduate studies where he majored in economics, earning an A.B. and graduating in 2004.[6] At Harvard, he was a member of the men's varsity crew team, the Porcellian Club[10][11] and the Hasty Pudding Club.
In 2009, Winklevoss entered the Said Business School at the University of Oxford to study for a Master of Business Administration.[4] While at Oxford, he was a member of Christ Church,[12] an Oxford Blue, and rowed in the Blue Boat in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.[13][14]
[edit]ConnectU
In December 2002, Winklevoss, along with his brother and with classmate Divya Narendra, wanted a better way to connect with fellow students at Harvard University and other universities.[15] As a result, the three conceived of a social network for Harvard students named HarvardConnection,[16] which was to expand to other schools around the country.[17][18][19] In January 2003, they enlisted the help of fellow Harvard student, programmer, and friend Sanjay Mavinkurve to begin building HarvardConnection.[20] Mavinkurve began work on HarvardConnection but left the project in the spring of 2003 when he graduated and went to work for Google.[21]
After the departure of Mavinkurve, the Winklevosses and Narendra approached Narendra’s friend, Harvard student and programmer Victor Gao to work on HarvardConnection.[20] Gao, a senior in Mather House, had opted not to become a full partner in the venture, instead agreeing to be paid in a work for hire capacity on a rolling basis.[19] He was paid $400 for his work on the website code during the summer and fall of 2003; however, he excused himself thereafter due to personal obligations.[18]
[edit]Mark Zuckerberg
In November 2003, upon the referral of Victor Gao, the Winklevosses and Narendra approached Mark Zuckerberg about joining the HarvardConnection team.[22] By this point, the previous HarvardConnection programmers had already made progress on a large portion of the coding: front-end pages, the registration system, a database, back-end coding, and a way users could connect with each other, which Gao called a "handshake".[19] In early November, Narendra emailed Zuckerberg saying, “We’re very deep into developing a site which we would like you to be a part of and ... which we know will make some waves on campus.”[19] Within days, Zuckerberg was talking to the HarvardConnection team and preparing to take over programming duties from Gao.[19] On the evening of November 25, 2003,[23] the Winklevosses and Narendra met with Zuckerberg in the dining hall of Harvard's Kirkland House, where they explained to Zuckerberg the HarvardConnection website, the plan to expand to other schools after launch, the confidential nature of the project, and the importance of getting there first.[17][19] During the meeting, Zuckerberg allegedly entered into an oral contract with Narendra and the Winklevosses and became a partner in HarvardConnection.[24] He was given the private server location and password for the unfinished HarvardConnection website and code,[18] with the understanding that he would finish the programming necessary for launch.[24]Zuckerberg allegedly chose to be compensated in the form of sweat equity.[25][26]
On November 30, 2003, Zuckerberg told Winklevoss in an email that he did not expect completion of the project to be difficult. Zuckerberg writes, "I read over all the stuff you sent and it seems like it shouldn't take too long to implement, so we can talk about that after I get all the basic functionality up tomorrow night."[22] The next day, on December 1, 2003, Zuckerberg sent another email to the HarvardConnection team. "I put together one of the two registration pages so I have everything working on my system now. I'll keep you posted as I patch stuff up and it starts to become completely functional."[17] On December 4, 2003, Zuckerberg wrote, "Sorry I was unreachable tonight. I just got about three of your missed calls. I was working on a problem set."[17] On December 10, 2003: "The week has been pretty busy thus far, so I haven't gotten a chance to do much work on the site or even think about it really, so I think it's probably best to postpone meeting until we have more to discuss. I'm also really busy tomorrow so I don't think I'd be able to meet then anyway."[17] A week later: "Sorry I have not been reachable for the past few days. I've basically been in the lab the whole time working on a CS problem set which I'm still not finished with."[17] On December 17, 2003,[23]Zuckerberg met with the Winklevosses and Narendra in his dorm room, allegedly confirming his interest and assuring them that the site was almost complete.[19] On the whiteboard in his room, Zuckerberg allegedly had scrawled multiple lines of code under the heading “Harvard Connection,” however, this would be the only time they saw any of his work.[19] On January 8, 2004, Zuckerberg emailed to say he was "completely swamped with work [that] week" but had "made some of the changes ... and they seem[ed] to be working great" on his computer. He said he could discuss the site starting the following Tuesday, on January 13, 2004.[22][27] On January 11, 2004, Zuckerberg registered the domain namethefacebook.com.[28] On January 12, 2004, Zuckerberg e-mailed Eduardo Saverin, saying that the site thefacebook.com was almost complete and that they should discuss marketing strategies.[19] Two days later, on January 14, 2004,[23] Zuckerberg met again with the HarvardConnection team. However, he never mentioned registering the domain name thefacebook.com nor a competing social networking website; rather, he reported progress on HarvardConnection, told them he would continue to work on it, and would email the group later in the week.[22] On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com, a social network for Harvard students, designed to expand to other schools around the country.[24]
On February 6, 2004, the Winklevosses and Narendra first learned of thefacebook.com while reading a press release in the Harvard student newspaper The Harvard Crimson.[19]According to Gao, who looked at the HarvardConnection code afterward, Zuckerberg had left the HarvardConnection code incomplete and non-functional, with a registration that did not connect with the back-end connections.[20] On February 10, 2004, the Winklevosses and Narendra sent Zuckerberg a cease and desist letter.[29][30] They also asked the Harvard administration to act on what they viewed as a violation of the university’s honor code and student handbook.[31] They lodged a complaint with the Harvard Administrative Board and university president Larry Summers; however, both viewed the matter to be outside of the university's jurisdiction.[32] Summers advised the HarvardConnection team to take their matter to the courts.[27]
Between November 30, 2003, and February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg exchanged a total of 52 emails with the HarvardConnection team and engaged in multiple in-person meetings.[27] During the same period of time, Zuckerberg engaged in multiple electronic instant message communications with people outside of the HarvardConnection team. On March 5, 2010, certain electronic instant messages from Mark Zuckerberg's hard drive were leaked to the public.[17] On September 20, 2010, Facebook confirmed the authenticity of these leaked instant messages in a New Yorker article.[33] One exchange between Zuckerberg and a friend reads:[17]
| “ | FRIEND: so have you decided what you are going to do about the websites? ZUCK: yea i’m going to fuck them ZUCK: probably in the year ZUCK: *ear | ” |
Later, a partnership allegedly formed between i2hub, a popular peer-to-peer service at the time, and ConnectU. The partnership, called The Winklevoss Chang Group, jointly advertised their properties through bus advertisements as well as press releases. i2hub integrated its popular software with ConnectU's website, as part of the partnership. The team also jointly launched several projects and initiatives.[34][35]
[edit]Facebook lawsuits
In 2004, ConnectU filed a lawsuit against Facebook alleging that creator Mark Zuckerberg had broken an oral contract with them. The suit alleged that Zuckerberg had copied their idea[36][37] and illegally used source code intended for the website he was hired to create.[38][39][40][41] Facebook countersued in regards to Social Butterfly, a project put out by The Winklevoss Chang Group, an alleged partnership between ConnectU and i2hub, another campus service. It named among the defendants ConnectU, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, Divya Narendra, and Wayne Chang, founder of i2hub.[42] A settlement agreement for both cases was reached in February 2008, reportedly valued at $65 million.[43] However, in May 2010, it was reported that ConnectU is accusing Facebook of securities fraud on the value of the stock that was part of the settlement and wants to get the settlement undone. According to ConnectU's allegations, the value of the stock was worth $11 million instead of $45 million that Facebook presented at the time of settlement. This meant the settlement value, at the time, was $31 million, instead of the $65 million.[44][45] On August 26, 2010, The New York Times reported that Facebook shares were trading at $76 per share in the secondary market, putting the total settlement value at close to $120 million.[46][47] If the lawsuit to adjust the settlement to match the difference goes through, the value will quadruple to over $466 million.[48]According to Steven M. Davidoff, "Facebook never represented its valuation in this negotiation, and so there is no prior statement that the company needs to correct."[46]
[edit]Quinn Emanuel lawsuits
One of ConnectU's law firms, Quinn Emanuel, inadvertently disclosed the confidential settlement amount in marketing material by printing "WON $65 million settlement against Facebook".[49] Quinn Emanuel is seeking $13 million of the settlement. ConnectU fired Quinn Emanuel and sued the law firm for malpractice.[50] On August 25, 2010, an arbitration panel ruled that Quinn Emanuel "earned its full contingency fee". It also found that Quinn Emanuel committed no malpractice.[51]
[edit]The Winklevoss Chang Group lawsuit
On December 21, 2009, i2hub founder Wayne Chang and The i2hub Organization launched a lawsuit against ConnectU and its founders, seeking 50% of the settlement. The complaint says, "The Winklevosses and Howard Winklevoss filed [a] patent application, U.S. Patent Application No 20060212395, on or around March 15, 2005, but did not list Chang as a co-inventor." It also states, "Through this litigation, Chang asserts his ownership interest in The Winklevoss Chang Group and ConnectU, including the settlement proceeds."[35] Lee Gesmer of the firm Gesmer Updegrove posted the detailed 33-page complaint online.[34][52]
[edit]Regatta Riverview lawsuit
In May 2005, the Winklevoss twins were evicted from an apartment in the Regatta Riverview complex in Cambridge over failure to pay rent, repeated complaints of noisy parties, and over the arrest of Cameron for smashing plates, drawers, and a door with a hammer in a 5AM fit of drunken rage at his brother. The twins retaliated by registering false domain names such as regattaboston.org and regattaboston.net, posting defamatory information, and buying ads from Google to direct traffic to these fabricated sites. The Regatta Riverview filed suit in July 2005, and the twins settled for undisclosed terms within two days.[53]
[edit]Guest of a Guest
Cameron is now the publisher of online site Guest of a Guest, a web blog that focuses on parties and nightlife in New York, Los Angeles, and The Hamptons.
[edit]Rowing
Winklevoss began rowing at the age of 15, encouraged by family friends and the example of next-door neighbor Ethan Ayer who rowed at Harvard University and Cambridge University.[8]He began rowing at the Saugatuck Rowing Club on the Saugatuck River in 1997.[54] His first coach was Irishman James Mangan who coached him and his brother throughout high school.[55] Winklevoss' high school did not have a crew team, so his junior year he and brother co-founded the crew program.[8] In the summer of 1999, he made the United States Junior National Rowing Team, competing in the coxed pair event with his brother at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.[55]
Cameron's rowing discipline is sweep rowing.[56]
[edit]Harvard
Winklevoss rowed at Harvard University for four years under legendary coach Harry Parker, while completing his undergraduate studies.[9] In 2004, he sat 6-seat in the "engine room" of the Harvard men's varsity heavyweight eight boat.[55] The 2004 crew was nicknamed the "God Squad" because, according to his brother, some of them believed in God while the rest believed they were God.[57] As a Harvard Crimson in 2004, he helped the "God Squad" win the Eastern Sprints, the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship, and the Harvard-Yale Regatta to cap-off an undefeated collegiate racing season.[58]
In the summer of 2004, Winklevoss and the "God Squad" traveled to Lucerne, Switzerland, to compete in the Lucerne Rowing World Cup. They defeated the 2004 British and FrenchOlympic eight boats in the semi-final to earn a spot in the grand final, in which they placed 6th.[59] The team then traveled to the Henley Royal Regatta where they competed in the Grand Challenge Cup. Winklevoss helped his team defeat the Cambridge University Blue Boat in the semi-final before they fell to the Dutch Olympic eight boat team (of the Hollandia Roeiclub) in the final by ⅔ of a boat length.[60] The Dutch team went on to win the Olympic silver medal at the Athens Olympic Games a month later.[61]
[edit]2007 Pan American Games
In 2007, Winklevoss was named to the United States Pan American Team and competed at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[62] He won a silver medal in the men's coxless four event[63] and a gold medal in the men's eight event on the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas.[64]
[edit]2008 Olympic Games
In 2008, Winklevoss was named to the United States Olympic Team and competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.[65] He rowed with his brother in the men's coxless pairevent which took place at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. The brothers were coached by the renowned Ted Nash.[9] In their first heat, they failed to finish in the top three and did not qualify for the Semifinals. In the Repechage (a last chance to make the Semifinals), they took first, advancing them to the Semifinals. A strong finish in Semifinal 2 put them in the Final. They ended up finishing sixth out of the fourteen countries which had qualified for the Olympics.[66]
[edit]2009 World Cup
In 2009, Winklevoss won a bronze medal at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland in the men's coxless four event.[67
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