SimplyAbuDhabi XXXVII

The Winklevoss twins finally have something to shout about. Remember them? They were the square-jawed duo, made famous in the 2010 film ‘The Social Network,’ who claimed that their former Harvard classmate Mark Zuckerberg had stolen the original idea for Facebook from them. They sued Zuckerberg, and were awarded a $65m settlement, seemingly never to be heard of again, while Zuckerberg went on to become the ruler of a $500bn online empire of 2.4bn people. Since the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning film portrayed them as slightly dim “Men of Harvard” outfoxed by a hoodie-wearing nerd, they might as well have spent the past nine years chopping wood as far as most people are concerned. As it turns out, they haven’t been doing that. Instead, the 38-year-olds have got themselves wrapped up in a whole new caper. They reckon that their second act, their next big idea (if you believe Facebook was their first), is even bigger. The former Olympic rowers used their Facebook payoff to make a huge bet on bitcoin, the digital currency they say will replace money as we know it. When they quietly began buying as much of it as they could back in 2012, one bitcoin was worth $7. Today, it goes for $8,000. The Winklevii, as they are known in Silicon Valley, have become billionaires after all. But how they turned themselves from supporting characters in the Facebook story to central figures in cryptocurrency, a wild world populated by crackpots and billionaires, is surprising. Perhaps even more surprising than their story is who is telling it: Ben Mezrich, the author of the book upon which ‘The Social Network’ was based. He is the person most responsible for the Winklevii’s unfortunate public image. Part of the reason he wrote the new book, he says, is to correct the record. “I misjudged them,” Mezrich said on the eve of publication of the book, ‘Bitcoin Billionaires’. “I would have loved to have been able to tell their story more fully. I think it’s easy to judge them, but I think it’s wrong to judge them”. He frames the narrative around that of the Count of Monte Cristo, with the twins as Edmond Dantès, the protagonist who escapes wrongful imprisonment and returns to Paris a rich man, ready for revenge. 102 | SIMPLY INFLUENTIAL I think it’s easy to judge them, but I think it’s wrong to judge them.” “ SIMPLY INFLUENTIAL | 103