Winklevoss twins invest US$1m in investors’ social network SumZero

17 Sep 2012

Image via BBC interview posted on YouTube

The twins formerly embroiled in a lawsuit with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have invested US$1m in SumZero, a new social network for professional investors.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss’ fellow Harvard University alums Divya Narendra and Aalap Mahadevia founded SumZero in 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Zuckerberg launched Facebook while he was a student at Harvard, but the Winklevoss twins launched a lawsuit against him, claiming he stole their idea for the social network. The lawsuit netted the brothers a cash-and-stock settlement valued at US$65m when Facebook was valued at US$15bn.

They later sought to undo the deal, however, claiming it was fraudulent because Facebook had hidden information from them and they deserved more money.

In June 2011, however, the twins chose not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, thus hanging onto their settlement.

In February, as a channel from which to invest their wealth, they formed Winklevoss Capital. Four months later, they made their first investment in SumZero, described on its own website as “the world’s largest community of hedge fund, mutual fund, and private equity professionals.”

Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com