Author: muckety

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Writing the first draft of history is always perilous.

In September 2004, in a story about a then new lawsuit that accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing the idea for Facebook from fellow Harvard students, The Boston Globe wrote: “There isn’t much money at stake.”

Oops.

Today Facebook is valued on paper at $15 billion or so, making Zuckerberg’s 20 percent stake worth … Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft.

That’s what makes coverage of Zuckerberg and his legal headaches in the November/December issue of 02138, an independent magazine named for Harvard’s zip code, so …

Based on interviews and a close reading of court documents filed in ConnectU v. Facebook, author Luke O’Brien writes, “the case raises troubling questions about the ethics of this new billionaire.” O’Brien is a Harvard alum.

The founders of ConnectU are twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and fellow student Divya Narendra.

Zuckerberg’s reaction to the piece and accompanying documents posted online also fanned interest. The documents included his Harvard application, a portion of his personal online diary, and segments of depositions taken in the case. They contained private information such as Zuckerberg’s social security number and the home address of his parents.

Zuckerberg’s lawyers tried to get 01238 to take down the documents. The publication redacted his ID information last week, but continued to post the items.

Kara Swisher and Silicon Alley Insider commented on the irony of Zuckerberg fighting to maintain his personal privacy when Facebook encourages its users to share personal information. CNET interviewed O’Brien, detailing how he obtained the documents. The New York Times followed with a few new details about the documents today.

Mixed with all this drama is some revealing stuff in the 01238 story and the documents about the beginnings of Facebook and how Zuckerberg operates. Some examples:

– O’Brien writes that Zuckerberg once handed out business cards that read: “I’m CEO. . . bitch.”

– According to the transcript of a Zuckerberg deposition, he originally owned two-thirds of Facebook and another student, Eduardo Saverin, owned one-third. That was quickly adjusted to accommodate another partner, Dustin Moskovitz, with Zuckerberg at 65%, Saverin 30% and Moskovitz 5%.

Saverin is no longer with the company and has his own legal battle against Zuckerberg.

– In his story, O’Brien writes that after a chance meeting between Saverin and Cameron Winklevoss in 2004, Winklevoss recalls Saverin saying: “Sorry that he screwed you. . . Mark screwed [me] too.”

– In another deposition, Zuckerberg details the focused life of a Web developer. He was asked what he did every day during the summer of 2004, hunkered down in Palo Alto working on his fledgling site.

“Woke up, walked from my bedroom to the living room and programmed,” Zuckerberg responded.

What time in the morning did he wake up?

“It probably wasn’t the morning,” he said.

– Asked to describe how he started Facebook, Zuckerberg responded: “Well, I mean, I made a bunch of stuff while I was at Harvard that was mostly just to get information out to people around you.”

– Perhaps the most intriguing question of all is what happened to Zuckerberg’s original source code for Facebook? O’Brien points out that in a New Yorker article last year, Zuckerberg said there was “really good documentation” of his code that would prove he didn’t steal anything from the Winklevoss twins and Narendra.

So far, O’Brien writes, none of the code has come out in court. And Zuckerberg’s attorneys contend that “nearly all the early Facebook code has disappeared.”

That could be another oops for an early draft of history.

This post was archived from createpositivechange.org/. View the original on the Wayback Machine.

This post was archived from createpositivechange.org/. View the original on the Wayback Machine.

This post was archived from createpositivechange.org/. View the original on the Wayback Machine.

This post was archived from createpositivechange.org/. View the original on the Wayback Machine.

This post was archived from createpositivechange.org/. View the original on the Wayback Machine.

This post was archived from createpositivechange.org/. View the original on the Wayback Machine.

This post was archived from createpositivechange.org/. View the original on the Wayback Machine.

Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony D. Marshall, was indicted today on charges of looting his mother’s estate, valued at nearly $200 million.

The indictment charges Marshall with grand larceny, conspiracy, forgery, criminal possession of stolen property, scheme to defraud, falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing.

Also charged was Francis X. Morrissey Jr., an attorney whom Marshall hired to handle estate matters for his mother.

“The indictment charges that Marshall and Morrissey took advantage of Mrs. Astor’s diminished mental capacity in a scheme to defraud her and others out of millions of dollars,” New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau announced.

Morgenthau said Marshall abused his power of attorney and persuaded his mother to sell assets by falsely telling her that she was running out of money. He said Marshall and Morrissey were accused of talking Mrs. Astor into signing two changes to the will, leaving the entire estate to her son. A signature on a third amendment had been forged, Morgenthau said.

Astor, a well-known philanthropist and society matron, died in August at age 105.

The criminal investigation was sparked by allegations from Marshall’s son Philip, who filed a civil suit accusing his father of stealing from Mrs. Astor and failing to properly care for her.

The district attorney’s office said in a press release today that investigation had shown that Marshall was a paid financial adviser for his mother for many years. As long ago as 2001, her doctors told him she was suffering from Alzheimer’s and had limited ability to understand complicated issues.

Marshall allegedly induced his mother to sell one of her favorite paintings, Up the Avenue from Thirty-Fourth Street, by Childe Hassam. Rather than selling it at auction, Marshall sold it through a private gallery for $10 million and took a $2 million commission.

Marshall is also accused of misappropriating his mother’s money to pay expenses of Delphi Productions, a theatrical production company he founded with his wife, Charlene. Morrissey is a director of the company.

The indictment also says Marshall stole two works of art valued at a combined $1 million, and used his mother’s money to pay for a yacht captain.

Marshall, 83, has repeatedly denied allegations of misconduct. He also has criticized those who have stepped up to intervene on his mother’s behalf – an elite group that includes David Rockefeller, Annette de la Renta and Henry Kissinger.