Will the saga of the Winkelvoss twins ever end? The duo now find themselves involved in a lawsuit over how their Facebook cash should be distributed.
Earlier this month, a Massachusetts judge ruled that a case filed by software developer Wayne Chang can proceed. Chang claims that he is owed a portion of the $65 million settlement the twins won for their role in the creation of Facebook, according to a report from The National Law Journal.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss created ConnectU, a Harvard dating Web site that once employed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. After Facebook took off, ConnectU founders accused Zuckerberg of stealing their ideas in order to start Facebook. Zuckerberg naturally disagreed, but the two sides eventually agreed to a deal worth $20 million in cash, plus a stake in Facebook worth $45 million.
Chang and his former company, the i2hub Organization, sued ConnectU in 2009. Chang claimed he integrated i2hub's P2P file-sharing software with ConnectU's Web site, which entitles him to a 15 percent stake in ConnectU. The Journal said he also claims that he and the Winklevoss twins formed a partnership to jointly run ConnectU, i2hub, and other Web projects, which gives him a 50 percent stake. Chang would, therefore, apparently accept anything from 15 to 50 percent of the $65 million from Facebook.
At this point, Justice Peter Lauriat with the Suffolk County Superior Court said Chang's claims on the Facebook cash are "too speculative to confer standing, [but] his claims with respect to an ownership in Connect U are not," the Journal reported.
The Winklevoss twins, meanwhile, are still battling it out with Facebook, despite the $65 million payday. They are challenging the settlement due to a disagreement over the valuation of the social-networking site. They recently lost a round in that legal fight, but appealed the decision.