Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of the famous social networking site Facebook, has today announced that claims of ownership made by a New York man are false. In the claims, Paul Ceglia said that he had been contracted in 2003 for 50% of Zuckerberg"s stake in Facebook.
Earlier on in the year, various news stories spread that Mr Ceglia had claimed an ownership stake in the business but it is in fact not the first story of someone trying to claim their piece of the pie. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were known for quite some time of their case they that originally came up with the idea of what is now Facebook.
In a report from Reuters, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg intend to use forensic testing on Paul Ceglia"s documents to show that they"re fake. In the filing Zuckerberg said that "the contract is a cut-and-paste job, the emails are complete fabrications, and this entire lawsuit is a fraud".
With Facebook becoming an international phenomenon in connecting people from around the world, it"s become a very successful business, making the founder and CEO a billionaire in the process. Estimations by analysts would put Facebook at a value of $70 billion if it were to go public. Forbes magazine which is known for publicising information on the world"s richest people put Zuckerberg"s worth at $13.5 billion.