cameron-winklevoss

Facebook Twins Clutch Man Purses At Movie Screening

Ryan Tate · 09/23/10 05:07PM

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the devastatingly handsome twins who claim Facebook was their idea, lapse all too easily into self-caricature. Consider their outfits for a screening of The Social Network, which included, says an accompanying journalist, matching man purses.

Facebook Wannabes Not Happy With $65 Million

Ryan Tate · 04/01/10 04:44PM

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss speciously claimed to have helped invent Facebook, winning tens of millions of dollars from the social network. Now they ludicrously want more, and the real inventor of Facebook probably has himself to blame.

When ConnectU's Founders Won, They Still Lost

Owen Thomas · 02/15/09 04:00PM

Lawyers for ConnectU are bragging about winning a $65 million settlement for their clients from Facebook. But what did Divya Narendra and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss really get from Mark Zuckerberg? Almost nothing.

Facebook's Value: $3.7 Billion and Dropping

Owen Thomas · 02/11/09 10:16PM

What's Facebook really worth? The fast-growing social network is adding to its 150 million users effortlessly. But revenues aren't growing as easily. And that has Mark Zuckerberg's company tied up in legal and financial knots.

Facebook Settlement Revealed by Incompetent Lawyers

Owen Thomas · 02/10/09 05:22PM

How much did it cost to put a lingering dispute over the creation of Facebook to rest? $65 million, according to the lawyers who hammered out the — oops — confidential settlement with rival ConnectU.

Facebook Founders Settle Their Feud

Owen Thomas · 01/30/09 06:44PM

After years of freezing out cofounder Eduardo Saverin over a dispute about money, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has deigned to recognize his former Harvard buddy. Why now? Perhaps to derail a forthcoming Facebook tell-all?

Facebook.co.uk offline — but check out who owns it

Owen Thomas · 10/30/08 12:40PM

Another embarrassing outage for Facebook: The homepage for Facebook.co.uk is displaying a set of directories, as if the server had been wiped clean. Before you blame Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg for this one, check out the domain-name registration. Facebook.co.uk is registered to one Cameron Winklevoss; last year, it displayed a placeholder homepage. So who's Cameron Winklevoss, and what makes this deception so intriguing?Cameron and his twin brother Tyler famously sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he copied the code for his site from ConnectU, a similar social network they asked him to help code while they were all students at Harvard. Facebook and ConnectU settled the lawsuit earlier this year. One wonders if Facebook's lawyers forgot to ask for the UK domain name.

Guy who sued Facebook joins Facebook

Nicholas Carlson · 09/23/08 07:00PM

Harvard alum Divya Narendra is on Facebook, one of his classmates noticed today. The social network started at that Ivy League school, so his joining it wouldn't be notable — except Narendra started ConnectU, the social network from which Narendra and his cofounders say fellow Harvard man Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook. The other two founders are Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who rowed in the Beijing Olympics and are also very tall. Narendra didn't take advantage of Facebook's excellent privacy features and has his profile exposed to the entire New York network. Narendra has been less vocal than the Winklevosses about ConnectU's continuing fight with Facebook, but according to his Facebook wall, which we've pasted below, Narendra's friends still can't believe he joined the site. Also below: Guess which company Narendra did not include in the "Education and Work" section of his profile:

ConnectU's uniques spike 50 percent

Jackson West · 09/22/08 06:00PM

At the party last Friday hosted by our publisher, Gawker Media, ConnectU twintrepreneurs Cameron Winklevoss (left) and Tyler Winklevoss (right) made an appearance. They were in town for their short film production's screening the following day. Intrepid Valleywagger Nicholas Carlson managed to keep them talking for half an hour — but all I got from Carlson about the exchange was, "They're very handsome." Write a better headline in the comments and we'll use it for the post's title. Friday actionhero11 won a few chips for "This Hard Drive sponsored by Seagate."(Photo by Nick McGlynn)

ConnectU twins' film production has NYC premiere tomorrow

Jackson West · 09/19/08 03:40PM

ConnectU cofounders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss lost control of ConnectU, their also-ran social network, in the settlement of a lawsuit with Facebook CEO mark Zuckerberg. And they finished last in their Olympic rowing final. But they just got some good news! A short film the pair executive-produced (read: paid for) has won a slot at the New York City Shorts Festival. First Bass, a treacly story directed by fellow Harvard grad Phil Hodges, features a young bassist who ditches rehearsal to run off to a Chicago Cubs game. It looks like a typical "calling-card film," the kind of flicks Hollywood wannabes produce to get a foot in the door to the entertainment industry. The five- to six-figure budgets are usually funded by wealthy family and friends. The best part is this little tidbit from Tyler's bio:

Google pulling for Facebook's rower foes?

Owen Thomas · 08/18/08 02:20PM

On Sunday, Google featured rowers in a custom Olympics logo on its homepage. Were the mullahs of Mountain View pulling for Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the Olympics hopefuls in rowing who charged Harvard classmate Mark Zuckerberg with nicking the idea for Facebook from ConnectU, their college social network? The Winklevosses lost in the pair rowing finals, after handing their company to Zuckerberg in a court-ordered settlement. Then again, Google is known for backing losers in social networking.

ConnectU twins sink in rowing finals, rise in our hearts

Nicholas Carlson · 08/18/08 11:00AM

ConnectU cofounders and identical twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss finished sixth out of six in Saturday's Olympic rowing finals. As you can tell from NBC's clip above, it wasn't close. It was an anticlimactic end to a rousing — for some, arousing — Olympic run for the beefy Harvard-grad dreamboats. The pair only made the finals after a stirring upset last week. Australians Drew Ginn and Duncan Free finished first. Sure, they have a gold medal, but did they create a college social network good enough for Mark Zuckerberg to copy? (Photo by Getty Images)

Know your Olympic finalists, ConnectU founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss

Nicholas Carlson · 08/14/08 11:20AM

ConnectU may be the college social network that isn't Facebook, but then Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is also the social network founder who isn't an Olympic finalist. Row2K interviewed the pair who are, ConnectU founders and dreamboats Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. From the interviews, giddy fangirls and boys will be excited to learn that Cameron is the one who likes to play guitar, read books and watch movies. He's also very excited to seeing Beijing because he's never been to China before. Tyler doesn't say as much, but we do learn from the interview, excerpted above, that he was very tall in his youth. In an early 1960s rock band, we think he'd be the one who wore sunglasses on stage. The pair — who, along with third cofounder Divya Narendra, handed over all ConnectU shares to Facebook this week after months of legal wrangling — compete for gold this Saturday.

In rousing upset, ConnectU founders advance to Olympic finals

Nicholas Carlson · 08/13/08 11:40AM

Click to viewCameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twin cofounders of a college social network which is not Facebook, finished second in today's Olympic rowing semifinals, just behind the Aussies, and will compete in the finals on Saturday. It was quite the upset. Previewing today's race, Row2k.com wrote that "the Aussie pair is a lock," that "Serbia, Germany, Italy are the like contenders for the final two qualifying spots," and that the ConnectU cofounders "have their work cut out for them if they want to win a spot in the A final." While they were winning in Beijing, they lost a battle in court.The pair alleged that Harvard classmate Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea in creating Facebook, ended up settling, and then appealed over the terms of the settlement; a judge denied their request. But if their long-fought legal battle with Facebook proved anything, it's that the JFK Jr.-lite Winklevoss brothers never quit, even when everyone — including judges — thinks they should. Take that, Serbia! (Photo by Getty Images)

As ConnectU founders prepare for Olympic semis, Facebook takes over their company

Nicholas Carlson · 08/12/08 10:00AM

ConnectU cofounders and Olympic rowers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss beat out Croatia to win their second heat yesterday, advancing to Wednesday's semifinals. Meanwhile, back on the home front, U.S. District Judge James Ware said Monday that ConnectU has until Tuesday to transfer all its stock to Facebook and comply with a settlement to the ConnectU founders' suit alleging that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea.The news is hardly bad news for the Winklevoss brothers and ConnectU's third cofounder, Divya Narendra. Court papers say the three will get "millions" of dollars in cash as well as stock in a startup too popular with mainstream America's millennial generation to fail. (The Winklevosses were fighting the settlement after they discovered that the Facebook common stock they would receive was worth less than they supposed.) Plus, there's still that shot at gold.

Winklevoss brothers finish last in first try at Beijing

Nicholas Carlson · 08/11/08 10:00AM

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss — the founding twins of social network ConnectU who are Facebook's legal foes and also Olympic rowers — fared poorly in their first Olympic outing Saturday, finishing fifth out of five in a 2000 meter preliminary heat. The Winklevoss brothers — who delighted fans on the home front when they practiced shirtless late last week — finished in 7:13.64, well behind the Polish team which finished up in 7:01.90. Also waiting on the other side of the finish line were the French, Italian and Canadian teams, one of which presumably won, but who cares, our boys did not. The Winklevoss brothers were supposed to get a second chance on Sunday, but that second heat rained out and will be rescheduled. Nevermind that, we think its time for the Winklevosses to go to Plan B: sue the French, Italian, Canadian and Polish teams for stealing their idea of finishing faster. Update: The brothers won their second heat and advanced to Wednesday's semifinals.