The Social Network (2010)
On October 28, 2003, Mark Zuckerberg, a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard University, experienced a turning point in his life. After being dumped by his girlfriend, Erica Albright, Zuckerberg returns to his dorm room feeling bitter and angry. He vents his frustration by writing a derogatory post about her on his LiveJournal blog. Fueled by a mix of emotions and technical curiosity, he creates a website called Facemash. By hacking into Harvard’s computer systems and downloading photos of female students from various house face books, he sets up a platform where users can rate the attractiveness of these women. The site quickly gains popularity, but the massive influx of traffic crashes parts of Harvard’s network. This stunt resulted in Zuckerberg being placed on six months of academic probation.
Facemash’s controversial success catches the attention of Harvard students Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, along with their business partner Divya Narendra. The trio approached Zuckerberg with an idea for a social networking site called Harvard Connection, designed exclusively for Harvard students and centered around dating. They propose that Zuckerberg help them develop the project. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg has his own vision for a broader social network. He pitches this idea, called Thefacebook, to his friend Eduardo Saverin, who provides $1,000 in seed funding. This financial support allows Zuckerberg to build the site, which quickly gains traction among Ivy League students.
When the Winklevoss twins and Narendra learn about The facebook, they are outraged, suspecting that Zuckerberg misled them and stole their concept. They confront Harvard President Larry Summers with their concerns, but Summers dismisses their complaints, seeing no grounds for disciplinary action against Zuckerberg or The facebook.
As The facebook’s popularity grows, Zuckerberg and Saverin meet Christy Lee, a fellow student who uses the phrase “Facebook me.” Inspired by this interaction, Zuckerberg focused on expanding the network to other prestigious universities, including Yale, Columbia, and Stanford. During this time, Lee introduces the duo to Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster. Parker impressed Zuckerberg with his grand vision for the company, suggesting that they drop "The" from the name, rebranding it simply as Facebook. While Zuckerberg is captivated by Parker’s ideas, Saverin views him with suspicion, dismissing him as unstable.
Following Parker’s advice, Zuckerberg moved Facebook’s operations to Palo Alto, California, while Saverin remained in New York to handle business development. Parker becomes more involved with Facebook, even moving into the house serving as the company’s headquarters. This increasing influence causes tension between Parker and Saverin.
Meanwhile, the Winklevoss twins, after narrowly losing the 2004 Henley Royal Regatta to the Hollandia Roeiclub, discover that Facebook has expanded to European universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and LSE. Frustrated by Zuckerberg’s success, they sued Facebook for intellectual property theft. At the same time, Saverin becomes frustrated with Parker’s growing control over the company and freezes Facebook’s bank account in protest. This conflict temporarily halts operations, but Saverin relents when Zuckerberg secures a $500,000 investment from angel investor Peter Thiel.
Saverin later travels to Palo Alto to attend a business meeting and a celebration for Facebook’s millionth user. However, he is blindsided when he discovers that his ownership stake has been diluted from 34% to a mere 0.03%, while no other stakeholders' shares are affected. Furious, Saverin confronts Zuckerberg and Parker, vowing to sue. Adding insult to injury, Saverin’s name has already been removed from Facebook’s masthead as co-founder and CFO. Parker orders security to remove him from the building, effectively severing Saverin’s ties with Facebook.
Not long after, Parker’s involvement with the company ended following his arrest for cocaine possession at a party celebrating Facebook’s milestone. Attempting to deflect blame onto Saverin, Parker further damaged his credibility, prompting Zuckerberg to cut ties with him.
The legal battles surrounding Facebook intensified. The Winklevoss twins filed a lawsuit claiming that Zuckerberg stole their idea, while Saverin sued over the unfair dilution of his shares. Marylin Delpy, a junior lawyer for Zuckerberg’s defense, advises that settling with Saverin would be the best course of action, as Zuckerberg’s abrasive attitude and the controversial origins of Facebook would likely alienate a jury.
Alone and reflecting on the fallout, Zuckerberg sends a friend request to Erica Albright, the woman whose rejection set everything in motion. Sitting in front of his computer, he refreshes the page repeatedly, waiting for a response, as the weight of his actions and their consequences hang heavy in the air.
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