Facebook Paid $65M to Settle Lawsuit

Recently it was revealed that Facebook paid $65 million in order to settle a lawsuit that accused the founder of the social networking website, Mark Zuckerberg, of stealing the idea of the website from his former college roommates.

In January, the law firm, called Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, launched a brochure in which it revealed a list of cases that the company successfully handled in 2008. The list featured the $65 million settlement from the popular social network. This weak, the whole story behind Facebook's settlement was published by The Recorder, a California legal publication that is mostly read among lawyers and judges.

The lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges represented ConnectU in a court case that took place in June 2008 and ended in a settlement. Initially Facebook remained silent about the financial terms of the settlement. The company's representatives stated that they cannot reveal a confidential agreement.

The founders of ConnectU, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, stated that they asked Mr. Zuckerberg to complete the software code for the social networking site they were developing while being enrolled at Harvard in 2003. Back then Mr. Zuckerberg was a second year student. Allegedly, instead of finishing what he promised, he took the code, stole the idea of the social network and in 2004 launched Facebook, says ConnectU's lawsuit.

The founders of Facebook and ConnectU, took part in negotiations regarding the purchase of ConnectU by the social network. The sum of money and the amount of stock remained undisclosed. One of the main conditions on the agreement states that both parties maintain the details secret or disburse a multi-million-dollar fine.