The “guy from Facebook Story” refers to Eduardo Saverin, one of the co-founders of Facebook along with Mark Zuckerberg. Saverin was an integral part of Facebook’s early beginnings and success, but had a falling out with Zuckerberg which led to legal battles over his ownership stake in the company.
Who is Eduardo Saverin?
Eduardo Saverin is a Brazilian entrepreneur and investor. He was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1982. His family later moved to Miami, Florida in 1993. As a student at Harvard University in 2002, Saverin met fellow Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg. In 2003, Saverin provided $18,000 in initial funding to help launch Facebook along with Zuckerberg and other Harvard students.
Saverin served as co-founder and CFO of Facebook in its early days while still a student at Harvard. He was instrumental in promoting Facebook to other college campuses and acquiring early investors. His influential business role led to him being nicknamed “the guy who got Facebook launched” at Harvard.
However, tensions arose in Facebook’s early days over Saverin’s role. In 2004, Saverin’s name was removed from the masthead as co-founder, although he continued to hold shares in the company. After graduating Harvard in 2006 and moving to California, his role further diminished.
What was Saverin’s role in the early days of Facebook?
As an early co-founder of Facebook, Saverin played several key roles:
- Provided $18,000 in initial funding – Saverin invested early capital to get Facebook launched.
- Acted as business manager – Helped build the company in areas like financing and promotion.
- Expanded Facebook to other colleges – Helped drive Facebook’s growth to new users and campuses.
- Obtained additional investors – Brought in outside angel investors like Peter Thiel.
Saverin leveraged his Harvard connections to promote Facebook and prove its model. Some of his most important contributions came from expanding Facebook beyond Harvard to other Ivy League schools like Columbia, Stanford, and Yale.
What led to the falling out between Saverin and Zuckerberg?
Several factors contributed to tensions between the co-founders and Saverin’s eventual marginalization and lawsuit against Facebook:
- Dilution of Saverin’s ownership – Zuckerberg continuously diluted Saverin’s stake through new investor deals.
- Disagreement over moving to Silicon Valley – Saverin wanted to stay on the East Coast while Zuckerberg moved to California.
- Saverin’s diminishing role – With Facebook’s growth, Zuckerberg no longer relied on Saverin for operations and financing.
- Personal relations – The co-founders had an increasingly strained relationship and differences in vision.
In 2005, Zuckerberg and other Facebook board members diluted Saverin’s 34% ownership stake down to about 0.03% without his consent. This created major tensions over Saverin’s forgotten role and negligible remaining stake.
How did Saverin respond to being pushed out of Facebook?
Saverin took legal action against Facebook and Zuckerberg after his stake was heavily diluted. The key events include:
- Filed lawsuit in May 2004 to dissolve company – Argued Zuckerberg committed corporate fraud.
- Settled out of court in 2009 – Received undisclosed amount over his diluted shares.
- Given credit as co-founder again – Facebook restored Saverin’s co-founder title as part of settlement.
Although the exact details were not disclosed, Saverin is estimated to have walked away with 4% ownership of Facebook, valued at over $2 billion at the time. Despite tensions with Zuckerberg, he became massively wealthy due to his early involvement in the company.
What is Eduardo Saverin doing today?
Since leaving Facebook and settling his lawsuit, Saverin has become an active investor and entrepreneur:
- Angel investor – Has invested in startups such as Qwiki and Ankronoses.
- Internet entrepreneur – Founded online companies like Red, a social media payment app.
- Based in Singapore – Saverin relocated to Singapore, where he remains active in business.
- Wealth estimated at $10 billion – Remains one of the richest people from Facebook’s early days.
Saverin has used his wealth from Facebook to fund new startups and companies. While no longer involved with Facebook, he continues to invest in tech and Internet companies. He keeps a relatively low public profile while working on new projects from Singapore.
How was Eduardo Saverin portrayed in The Social Network?
The 2010 movie The Social Network depicts the founding years of Facebook and the complicated relationship between Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.
In the film, Saverin is portrayed by British actor Andrew Garfield. The movie shows him as:
- Zuckerberg’s friend and business partner
- Providing initial Facebook funding
- Playing a key role in growing Facebook at Harvard
- Feeling betrayed after being forced out
The Social Network emphasizes Saverin’s frustrations over Zuckerberg taking Facebook away from him and abandoning their friendship. While not a perfect historical record, the film captures the general arc of their falling out.
Saverin’s perspective on his rift with Zuckerberg
In real life, Eduardo Saverin has shared some of his own thoughts on his strained relationship with Mark Zuckerberg and the fallout over Facebook’s ownership:
- Felt betrayed as a friend and early supporter
- Believes he deserved more credit for Facebook’s launch and success
- Upset over how his stake was diluted without consent
- Still values Facebook as an important company and innovation
Despite their bitter legal battle, Saverin has said he places more blame on external parties than Zuckerberg himself. He recognizes his crucial role was finite as Facebook grew rapidly.
Key facts and timeline of Saverin’s involvement with Facebook
Here is a summary timeline of Eduardo Saverin’s role with Facebook:
| 2002 | Saverin meets Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard and they become friends |
| 2003 | Saverin invests $18,000 in Zuckerberg’s idea for Facebook and becomes co-founder |
| 2004 | Facebook expands to Stanford, Columbia and other universities |
| 2004 | Saverin’s name removed from Facebook masthead as co-founder |
| 2005 | Saverin’s stake diluted to 0.03% without his approval |
| 2006 | Saverin graduates Harvard and moves to California |
| 2009 | Out of court settlement reached on Saverin’s lawsuit |
Saverin was an integral early figure who provided key financing, connections, and support in Facebook’s critical early days at Harvard. His later ousting and legal actions captured in The Social Network reflect the challenging politics in Facebook’s rapid early growth.
Conclusion
Eduardo Saverin was the early business partner of Mark Zuckerberg who helped get Facebook launched at Harvard. He provided critical funding, promotion, and expansion to the company in its initial stages. However, clashes over ownership and direction led to him being pushed out as Facebook took off. Despite his bitter falling out with Zuckerberg, Saverin is estimated to have walked away with over $2 billion from an early 4% stake in Facebook.
Saverin remains influential as an investor and entrepreneur in his own right, though no longer involved with the company he helped build. His complicated relationship and controversial role in Facebook’s founding years was captured in the movie The Social Network. Though no longer at Facebook, Saverin’s critical contributions in the early days played a major role in setting the company on the path to success.