14 DAY TRIAL // In the lawsuit-happy US, there are few things that anyone would find surprising anymore. So a man revealing a contract which he claims entitles him to a 84 percent stake in Facebook and subsequently winning a temporary injunction on any sale of Facebook assets shouldn’t raise too many eyebrows. He claims he signed a contract with Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the latter to develop a website in exchange of $1,000 and a 50 percent stake.
Paul D. Ceglia, the man in question, filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of New York's Allegany County at the end of last month, claiming ownership and damages. The judge presiding, Judge Thomas Brown, has issued a temporary restraining order until the matter is cleared. This prevents Facebook from selling any assets or stake in the company. Since Facebook isn’t publicly traded and probably has no plans to take any investments in the short term the injunction shouldn’t affect it in any way, which is what the company is also saying.
Ceglia claims that he contracted Zuckerberg to build what would become Facebook in 2003. The deal was that Zuckerberg would receive $1,000 and a 50 percent stake in the website. Ceglia would get an additional one percent stake for each day the project went over the January 1st, 2004 deadline. This, he says, adds up to a 84 percent stake.
Facebook has dismissed any claims and moved the lawsuit to a federal court. "We believe this suit is completely frivolous and we will fight it vigorously," the company stated. Facebook is also asking the court to remove the temporary injunction and throw out the case.
Facebook is a multi-billion dollar business at this point and one of the largest websites on the planet. While the early days of the website are somewhat controversial, it seems a bit odd that someone would wait six years before going to court if he was the rightful owner of the site.