The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal

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Overview

The high-energy tale of how two socially awkward Ivy Leaguers, trying to increase their chances with the opposite sex, ended up creating Facebook.

Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg were Harvard undergraduates and best friends–outsiders at a school filled with polished prep-school grads and long-time legacies. They shared both academic brilliance in math and a geeky awkwardness with women.

Eduardo figured their ticket to social acceptance–and sexual success–was getting invited to join one of the university’s Final Clubs, a constellation of elite societies that had groomed generations of the most powerful men in the world and ranked on top of the ...

See more details below

Overview

The high-energy tale of how two socially awkward Ivy Leaguers, trying to increase their chances with the opposite sex, ended up creating Facebook.

Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg were Harvard undergraduates and best friends–outsiders at a school filled with polished prep-school grads and long-time legacies. They shared both academic brilliance in math and a geeky awkwardness with women.

Eduardo figured their ticket to social acceptance–and sexual success–was getting invited to join one of the university’s Final Clubs, a constellation of elite societies that had groomed generations of the most powerful men in the world and ranked on top of the inflexible hierarchy at Harvard. Mark, with less of an interest in what the campus alpha males thought of him, happened to be a computer genius of the first order.

Which he used to find a more direct route to social stardom: one lonely night, Mark hacked into the university's computer system, creating a ratable database of all the female students on campus–and subsequently crashing the university's servers and nearly getting himself kicked out of school. In that moment, in his Harvard dorm room, the framework for Facebook was born.

What followed–a real-life adventure filled with slick venture capitalists, stunning women, and six-foot-five-inch identical-twin Olympic rowers–makes for one of the most entertaining and compelling books of the year. Before long, Eduardo’s and Mark’s different ideas about Facebook created in their relationship faint cracks, which soon spiraled into out-and-out warfare. The collegiate exuberance that marked their collaboration fell prey to the adult world of lawyers and money. The great irony is that while Facebook succeeded by bringing people together, its very success tore two best friends apart.

The Accidental Billionaires is a compulsively readable story of innocence lost–and of the unusual creation of a company that has revolutionized the way hundreds of millions of people relate to one another.

Ben Mezrich, a Harvard graduate, has published ten books, including the New York Times bestseller Bringing Down the House. He is a columnist for Boston Common and a contributor for Flush magazine. Ben lives in Boston with his wife, Tonya.


Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780385529372
  • Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 7/14/2009
  • Pages: 272
  • Product dimensions: 6.48 (w) x 9.50 (h) x 1.02 (d)

Meet the Author

BEN MEZRICH is the author of eleven books, including the international bestseller Bringing Down the House, which spent sixty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was made into the movie 21, starring Kevin Spacey. Ben lives in Boston with his wife, Tonya.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1 | October 2003

It was probably the third cocktail that did the trick. It was hard for Eduardo to tell for sure, because the three drinks had come in such rapid succession—the empty plastic cups were now stacked accordion style on the windowsill behind him—that he hadn’t been able to gauge for certain when the change had occurred. But there was no denying it now, the evidence was all over him. The pleasantly warm flush to his normally sallow cheeks; the relaxed, almost rubbery way he leaned against the window—a stark contrast to his usual calcified, if slightly hunched posture; and most important of all, the easy smile on his face, something he’d practiced unsuccessfully in the mirror for two hours before he’d left his dorm room that evening. No doubt at all, the alcohol had taken effect, and Eduardo wasn’t scared anymore. At the very least, he was no longer overwhelmed with the intense urge to get the fuck out of there.

To be sure, the room in front of him was intimidating: the immense crystal chandelier hanging from the arched, cathedral ceiling; the thick red velvet carpeting that seemed to bleed right out of the regal mahogany walls; the meandering, bifurcated staircase that snaked up toward the storied, ultrasecret, catacombed upper floors. Even the windowpanes behind Eduardo’s head seemed treacherous, lit from behind by the flickering anger of a bonfire consuming most of the narrow courtyard outside, twists of flame licking at the ancient, pockmarked glass.

This was a terrifying place, especially for a kid like Eduardo. He hadn’t grown up poor—he’d spent most of his childhood being shuttled between upper-middle-class communities in Brazil and Miami before matriculating at Harvard—but he was a complete stranger to the sort of old-world opulence this room represented. Even through the booze, Eduardo could feel the insecurities rumbling deep down in the pit of his stomach. He felt like a freshman all over again, stepping into Harvard Yard for the first time, wondering what the hell he was doing there, wondering how he could possibly belong in a place like that. How he could possibly belong in a place like this.

He shifted against the sill, scanning the crowd of young men that filled most of the cavernous room. A mob, really, bunched together around the pair of makeshift bars that had been set up specifically for the event. The bars themselves were fairly shoddy—wooden tables that were little more than slabs, starkly out of character in such an austere setting—but nobody noticed, because the bars were staffed by the only girls in the room; matching, bust-heavy blondes in low-cut black tops, brought in from one of the local all-female colleges to cater to the mob of young men.

The mob, in many ways, was even more frightening than the building itself. Eduardo couldn’t tell for sure, but he guessed there had to be about two hundred of them—all male, all dressed in similar dark blazers and equally dark slacks. Sophomores, mostly; a mix of races, but there was something very similar about all the faces—the smiles that seemed so much easier than Eduardo’s, the confidence in those two hundred pairs of eyes—these kids weren’t used to having to prove themselves. They belonged. For most of them, this party—this place—was just a formality.

Eduardo took a deep breath, wincing slightly at the bitter tinge to the air. The ash from the bonfire outside was making its way through the windowpanes, but he didn’t move away from his perch against the sill, not yet. He wasn’t ready yet.

Instead, he let his attention settle on the group of blazers closest to him—four kids of medium build. He didn’t recognize any of them from his classes; two of the kids were blond and preppy-looking, like they’d just stepped off a train from Connecticut. The third was Asian, and seemed a little older, but it was hard to tell for sure. The fourth, however—African American and very polished-looking, from his grin to his perfectly coiffed hair—was definitely a senior.

Eduardo felt his back stiffen, and he glanced toward the black kid’s tie. The color of the material was all the verification Eduardo needed. The kid was a senior, and it was time for Eduardo to make

his move.

Eduardo straightened his shoulders and pushed off of the sill. He nodded at the two Connecticut kids and the Asian, but his attention remained focused on the older kid—and his solid black, uniquely decorated tie.

“Eduardo Saverin.” Eduardo introduced himself, vigorously shaking the kid’s hand. “Great to meet you.”

The kid responded with his own name, Darron something, which Eduardo filed away in the back of his memory. The kid’s name didn’t really matter; the tie alone told him everything he needed to know. The purpose of this entire evening lay in the little white birds that speckled the solid black material. The tie designated him as a member of the Phoenix-S K; he was one of twenty or so hosts of the evening’s affair, who were scattered among the two hundred sophomore men.

“Saverin. You’re the one with the hedge fund, right?”

Eduardo blushed, but inside he was thrilled that the Phoenix member recognized his name. It was a bit of an exaggeration—he didn’t have a hedge fund, he’d simply made some money investing with his brother during his sophomore summer—but he wasn’t going to correct the mistake. If the Phoenix members were talking about him, if somehow they were impressed by what they’d heard—well, maybe he had a chance.

It was a heady thought, and Eduardo’s heart started to beat a

little harder as he tried to spread just the right amount of bullshit

to keep the senior interested. More than any test he’d taken freshman or sophomore year, this moment was going to define his future. Eduardo knew what it would mean to gain entrance to the Phoenix—for his social status during his last two years of college, and for his future, whatever future he chose to chase.

Like the secret societies at Yale that had gotten so much press over the years, the Final Clubs were the barely kept secret soul of campus life at Harvard; housed in centuries-old mansions spread out across Cambridge, the eight all-male clubs had nurtured generations of world leaders, financial giants, and power brokers. Almost as important, membership in one of the eight clubs granted an instant social identity; each of the clubs had a different personality, from the ultraexclusive Porcellian, the oldest club on campus, whose members had names like Roosevelt and Rockefeller, to the prepped-out Fly Club, which had spawned two presidents and a handful of billionaires, each of the clubs had its own distinct, and instantly defining, power. The Phoenix, for its part, wasn’t the most prestigious of the clubs, but in many ways it was the social king of the hill; the austere building at 323 Mt. Auburn Street was the destination of choice on Friday and Saturday nights, and if you were a member of the Phoenix, not only were you a part of a century-old network, you also got to spend your weekends at the best parties on campus, surrounded by the hottest girls culled from schools all over the 02138 zip code.

“The hedge fund is a hobby, really,” Eduardo humbly confided as the small group of blazers hung on his words. “We focus mostly on oil futures. See, I’ve always been obsessed with the weather, and I made a few good hurricane predictions that the rest of the market hadn’t quite picked up on.”

Eduardo knew he was walking a fine line, trying to minimize the geekiness of how he’d actually outguessed the oil market; he knew the Phoenix member wanted to hear about the three hundred thousand dollars Eduardo had made trading oil, not the nerdish obsession with meteorology that had made the trades possible. But Eduardo also wanted to show off a little; Darron’s mention of his “hedge fund” only confirmed what Eduardo had already suspected, that the only reason he was in that room in the first place was his reputation as a budding businessman.

Hell, he knew he didn’t have much else going for him. He wasn’t an athlete, didn’t come from a long line of legacies, and certainly wasn’t burning up the social scene. He was gawky, his arms were a little too long for his body, and he only really relaxed when he drank. But still, he was there, in that room. A year late—most people were “punched” during the fall of their sophomore year, not as juniors like Eduardo—but he was there just the same.

The whole punch process had taken him by surprise. Just two nights before, Eduardo had been sitting at his desk in his dorm room, working on a twenty-page paper about some bizarre tribe that lived in the Amazonian rain forest, when an invitation had suddenly appeared under his door. It wasn’t anything like a fairy-tale golden ticket—of the two hundred mostly sophomores who were invited to the first punch party, only twenty or so would emerge as new members of the Phoenix— but the moment was as thrilling to Eduardo as when he had opened his Harvard acceptance letter. He’d been hoping for a shot at one of the clubs since he’d gotten to Harvard, and now, finally, he’d gotten that shot.

Now it was just up to him—and, of course, the kids wearing

the black, bird-covered ties. Each of the four punch events—like tonight’s meet-and-greet cocktail party—was a sort of mass interview. After Eduardo and the rest of the invitees were sent home to their various dorms spread across the campus, the Phoenix members would convene in one of the secret rooms upstairs to deliberate their fates. After each event, a smaller and smaller percentage of the punched would get the next invitation—and slowly, the two hundred would be weeded down to twenty.

If Eduardo made the cut, his life would change. And if it took some creative “elaboration” of a summer spent analyzing barometric changes and predicting how those changes would affect oil distribution patterns —well, Eduardo wasn’t above a little applied creativity.

“The real trick is figuring out how to turn three hundred thousand into three million.” Eduardo grinned. “But that’s the fun of hedge funds. You get to be real inventive.”

He delved into the bullshit with full enthusiasm, carrying the whole group of blazers with him. He’d honed his bullshit skills over numerous prepunch parties as a freshman and sophomore; the trick was to forget that this was no longer a dry run—that this was the real thing. In his head, he tried to pretend he was back at one of those less important mixers, when he wasn’t yet being judged, when he wasn’t trying to end up on some all-important list. He could remember one, in particular, that had gone incredibly well; a Caribbean-themed party, with faux palm trees and sand on the floor. He tried to put himself back there—remembering the less imposing details of the decor, remembering how simple and easy the conversation had come. Within moments, he felt himself relaxing even more, allowing himself to become enrapt in his own story, the sound of his own voice.

He was back at that Caribbean party, down to the last detail. He remembered the reggae music bouncing off the walls, the sound of steel drums biting at his ears. He remembered the rum-based punch, the girls in flowered bikinis.

He even remembered the kid with the mop of curly hair who had been standing in a corner of the room, barely ten feet away from where he was now, watching his progress, trying to get up the nerve to follow his lead and approach one of the older Phoenix kids before it was too late. But the kid had never moved from the corner; in fact, his self- defeating awkwardness had been so palpable, it had acted like a force field, carving out an area of the room around him, a sort of reverse magnetism, pushing anyone nearby away.

Eduardo had felt a tinge of sympathy at the time—because he had recognized that kid with the curly hair—and because there was no way in hell a kid like that was ever going to get into the Phoenix. A kid like that had no business punching any of the Final Clubs—God only knew what he had been doing there at the prepunch party in the first place. Harvard had plenty of little niches for kids like that; computer labs, chess guilds, dozens of underground organizations and hobbies catering to every imaginable twist of social impairment. One look at the kid, and it had been obvious to Eduardo that he didn’t know the first thing about the sort of social networking one had to master to get into a club like the Phoenix.

But then, as now, Eduardo had been too busy chasing his dream to spend much time thinking about the awkward kid in the corner.

Certainly, he had no way of knowing, then or now, that the kid with the curly hair was one day going to take the entire concept of a social network and turn it on its head. That one day, the kid with the curly hair struggling through that prepunch party was going to change Eduardo’s life more than any Final Club ever could.

Chapter 2 | Harvard Yard

Ten minutes past one in the morning, and something had gone terribly wrong with the decorations. It wasn’t just that the ribbons of white- and blue-colored crepe paper attached to the walls had started to droop —one of them bowing so low that its taffeta-like curls threatened to overwhelm the oversize punch bowl perched below—but now the brightly designed decorative posters that covered much of the bare space between the crepe paper had also begun to unhinge and drop to the floor at an alarming rate. In some areas, the beige carpet had almost vanished beneath piles of glossy computer-printed pages.

On closer inspection, the catastrophe of the decorations made more sense; the peeling strips of packing tape that held the colored posters and crepe-paper ribbons in place were clearly visible, and what’s more, a sheen of condensation was slowly working the strips of tape free as the heat from the overworked radiators that lined the walls played havoc with the hastily constructed ambience.

The heat was necessary, of course, because it was New England in October. The banner hanging from the ceiling above the dying posters was all warmth—alpha epsilon pi, meet and greet, 2003—but there was no way a banner could compete with the ice that had begun to form on the oversize windows lining the back wall of the cavernous lecture room. All in all, the decorating committee had done what they could with the room—normally home to numerous philosophy and history classes, lodged as it was deep into the fifth floor of an aging building in Harvard Yard. They’d carted away the row upon row of scuffed wooden chairs and dilapidated desks, tried to cover up the bland, chipped walls with posters and crepe, and put up the banner, concealing most of the ugly, oversize fluorescent ceiling lights. Topping it all off, there was the coup de grâce; an iPod player attached to two enormous and expensive- looking speakers set on the little stage at the head of the room, where the professor’s lectern usually stood.

Interviews & Essays

Q&A:

BEN MEZRICH/ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES Q&A FOR BN.COM:

1)You seem to be drawn to these larger-than-life, fast-paced, and rags-to-riches stories of young entrepreneurs - also known as "lad lit." How did you discover the amazing story of the creation of Facebook?

I've always been intrigued by stories about brilliant kids who stumble into something spectacular - and in a way, THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES was something I stumbled into as well. It started with an email I received at 2 in the morning through my fan site, from a Harvard senior; in the email, the kid said he had a friend with a story I might be interested in. At the time, I knew very little about the history of Facebook, but I loved using the site; I agreed to meet this college kid and his friend at a local bar here in Boston. When I showed up, I was introduced to Eduardo Saverin, who had co-founded the company in his Harvard dorm room - and from the minute he started telling me his story, I knew this was going to be my next book.

2) Harvard is a central character in THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES. You provide a bird's-eye view of life on campus as well as the machinations behind the secretive Finals Clubs. How did you gain access to the Clubs? Has Harvard changed much since you attended and was there anything that you learned about the university while writing the book that surprised you?

Part of the thrill for me in writing this book was that I really feel connected to these kids because I was a lot like them. Not anywhere near as smart - but I was a geeky, gawky kid trying to navigate the same odd social structures of Harvard. To get deep inside this story -as I do with all my books - I immersed myself in that world again, and spent many hours on campus. I managed to get in with a great group of Final Club members, who snuck me into secret parties, got me deep behind the crimson ropes. Harvard hasn't really changed that much since I was there - except for Facebook itself, which has become a dominant part of the social world on every college campus.

3) Loss of innocence is a recurring theme throughout THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES. How did Facebook begin? How did its abrupt rise change the relationship between the two best friends, Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg?

Simply put, Facebook began with a college prank. Late one night, Mark Zuckerberg hacked into Harvard's computer system, pulling up the photos of every girl on campus to create a sort of "hot or not" website, a ratable database of all the female students - subsequently, crashing the university's servers and nearly getting himself kicked out of school. Realizing he was on to something interesting, he went to his friend Eduardo Saverin, and together they hashed out a plan to use what they had learned from this prank to create an exclusive site that sort of mimicked an online Final Club - a social setting where guys like them could be part of a social scene that would eventually link every kid on campus. At first, it was just the two of them, best friends in a college dorm room - but as the company exploded, rapidly becoming more popular than either of them could ever imagine - it tore them apart.

4) Mark Zuckerberg is driven, brilliant, and also the planet's youngest billionaire. Do you believe he is the next Bill Gates? How do you think Facebook will adapt to new technological arrivals such as Twitter?

I think Mark Zuckerberg could definitely be the next Bill Gates. I think Facebook is one of the most significant, society changing advances in the past ten years; I really feel that we've gone from the Village to the City to Facebook- our social lives have gone digital because of what Mark Zuckerberg created. Going forward, the question is, how will Facebook continue to meld itself to changes in technology and population. Twitter is growing fast, but Facebook is making efforts to adjust to incorporate Twitter-like features. But Twitter isn't the all encompassing pastime that Facebook is; people use Twitter, but they live on Facebook. That's the significant difference.

5) Sean Parker (co-founder of Napster and Plaxo) provides an entrée into the VC (venture capitalist) world of Silicon Valley for Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin. What was Sean Parker's goal in pursuing the Facebook team?

Sean Parker is this brilliant, amazing wild child - he's the kid who co-founded Napster, then co-founded Plaxo, then helped bring Facebook from a dorm room project to a billion dollar company. He discovered Facebook almost by accident - but he was already looking for his next billion dollar idea, and he already knew it was going to be something in the social network area. He was one of the first people to recognize the genius behind what Mark had done and he did everything he could to take Facebook to the next level.

6) There is a fascinating scene between Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (who had hired Mark Zuckerberg to do programming work on their forthcoming website) and Harvard President Larry Summers. The twins want to file a formal complaint with the university about Mark's Facebook launch. Can you describe Summers's reticence? Why would the university not get involved in the dispute?

Yes, the Winklevoss twins - 6'5", identical Olympic Rowers and members of one of Harvard's most elite Finals Clubs - had hired Mark Zuckerberg to work on their own website, and thus believed that Mark had stolen their idea. They managed to get a meeting with Summers, who was President of Harvard at the time. They wanted Summers to get involved - to investigate Mark and see if he had stolen from them. But Summers threw their charge back in their face. Summers decided it was a dispute between students that had nothing to do with him or the University.

7) What were your methods of research for ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES?

I write narrative nonfiction and all of my books reflect my writing style - I call it "immersion journalism" and am usually drawn into the story by the participants. I provide the reader an inside view of these larger-than-life characters and the astounding circumstances that create their story. To be clear about my process: ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES is a dramatic account based on dozens of interviews (including Eduardo Saverin), hundreds of sources, and thousands of pages of documents, including records from court proceedings. When a number of different - and often contentious - opinions about some events that took place in the book I re-created the scenes in the book based on the information I uncovered from documents and interviews. I used my best judgment as to what version most fits the documentary record

8) Kevin Spacey is producing the movie version of THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES. How is the movie progressing and have you been involved at all? Who would you like to see cast as Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, and Sean Parker?

The movie is moving along nicely; hopefully we will shoot later this year. Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti, Scott Rudin, and Mike Deluca are producing for Columbia/Sony, and Aaron Sorkin adapted the screenplay. They are in the process of signing a director now, and I think it will go very fast from there. There are a lot of great actors whose names have been bandied about, and I like them all - Michael Cera, Shia LaBeouf, etc. What's great about the story is that these kids are so young, and the Harvard setting is so unique. I'm certain Sorkin has done a fantastic job, as he's a genius, and I can't wait to see this put together.
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  • Posted July 15, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    Great insight to a pivotal company

    As you've come to expect from Ben Mezrich, this is a great window into a world that not everyone knows about. Whether Mark stole the ideas or enhanced his own will always be an issue but Ben puts all the cards on the table and lets you decide. Great unknown facts about Facebook and another well written book.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 18, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    It must've been a disappointment to Mezrich, not talking to Zuckerberg...

    I hadn't read any of Mezrich's earlier books, though they are extremely popular in Boston, due to the MIT angle for Bringing Down the House. I expect that some of his earlier work was easier to complete, since he had the cooperation of the people he was profiling. In the case of this book, Mezrich could not get Mark Zuckerberg to go on record. Since the book is about Zuckerberg's (and others') accomplishments in establishing Facebook, I'd have to say that must have been a big disappointment to Mezrich, since it gave his story a one-sided feel.

    The bulk of the story rested on the testimony, I guess you could call it, of Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg's initial financier, sounding board, and moral support while Zuckerberg was at Harvard. Zuckerberg subsequently found ways to ditch people he felt were feeding off his creation, including Saverin. I guess what struck me most was the juvenility of everyone involved in the whole process. They were only college kids after all, but somehow one hopes that those with exquisite gifts also have exquisite sense. Unfortunately, we all know that is not true--witness Tiger Woods. If you ever wondered if sex makes the world go round, look no further than this book.

    When I was first exposed to Facebook, I must admit I was awed at its reach. But this story of its founding makes me uneasy. Not that I think Zuckerberg stole anybody's idea. After all, he not only had unique ideas, he could do the programming himself, something many others could not do. But he doesn't sound like the kind of person anyone wants to have as a friend. Zuckerberg's reluctance to speak for himself could be just a desire to let his creation speak for him, a shrug at what readers think of him, a fear that the writer would not give him a fair shake. Whatever it is, he probably doesn't feel like he needs to justify himself. Shrug. He certainly doesn't care what I think, and how lonely can a billionaire be?

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 6, 2011

    Very Interesting Read

    Although it does not cover all the aspects of how social network makes their money, it gives the user an insight of how we are making ourselves and all of our networks available for sale. The book is an exquisite insight on how Facebook began but it fails to give concrete formula on Facebook business model. And this is true for most books that talk about how any particular company makes money. Since most authors do not have access to the inside day-to-day economic activities of the companies. As well most of this book assertions are based on speculations, which makes it hard to be used as a valid source.
    Otherwise the book is an interesting read about the development of Facebook as company. If one is looking to learn about how Zukerberg developed his business model I will recommend looking somewhere else. At the end it remains an exciting read and just like the title indicates, the moneymaking part seems more accidental than from an invention of a visionary business model.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 4, 2011

    ok

    Entertaining and interesting to see how this company began

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 3, 2011

    I like chicken

    I like chicken the question is do you

    1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 14, 2011

    not as good as the movie but...

    if you can seperate the film from the book then this is an enjoyable read which gives an interesting view into the creation of an internet behemoth.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 20, 2009

    Fun read

    Fascinating, well-researched story - from the "accidental" initiative to the seemingly not-so-accidental duplicity. A must read in particular for any college student - including those that I teach - lamenting the decline of the media given the new potential for opportunities. Couldn't put it down.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 6, 2011

    Didn't read it

    Not really fair to give the book a bad review but after seeing the movie it totally put me off reading the book. Not fair to the author but it is the chance he/she takes when a movie is based on a book or a book on a movie

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  • Posted September 20, 2011

    Engaging writing style based on speculation

    This is a great book that is easy to read in a day or two. It is definitely based on impressions and speculations, so not exactly a good reference book. However, the way the book is written allows the reader to be there at the time and the place where the idea came into fruition, and the book tags the reader along the various stages of the development of FB. It is inspiring to all idea-creators and motivating for all entrepreneurs. Truly, there is a world out there that is willing to embrace new ideas that are meant to make our life experience a better one. I haven't seen Social Connection and I don't think one needs to - this books alone is very entertaining and very well-written. Recommended.

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  • Posted March 20, 2011

    Great Book - I couldn't stop reading it!!

    I just recently saw The Social Network and was instantly fascinated by how the founding of Facebook came about. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, yet I still wanted to know more. I wanted to get a further insight into the dynamics of each character so i could get a true understanding of why things turned out the way they did. Because the movie is based off of The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, I immediately turned to this book; luckily it was the right direction to turn. For those of you who have not seen the Social Network or know nothing about the founding of Facebook, I would definitely suggest reading about this remarkable story. Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin are two nerdy friends at Harvard who are both fairly low on the social ladder. Out of the two, Mark is significantly more socially challenged, yet he is completely brilliant and a computer whiz! When Mark comes up with his latest idea for a website, he turns to Eduardo for help. The two friends become cofounders of the new social network that they call "thefacebook." The website was originally just meant for Harvard students, but it becomes so increasingly popular that they decide to expand it to many other colleges around the country. When word of this innovative website spreads, the two boys eventually find themselves involved in the capitalistic business world. Sadly Eduardo has to find out the hard way that the business world is truly a dog-eat-dog world. Ben Mezrich does a wonderful job of providing an exciting account of this interesting story. He not only captivated my attention in the beginning, but was also able to hold my attention throughout the entire book. He tells a great story while also adding in appealing extra details about things like college life at Harvard and the capitalistic world of Silicon Valley. He was truly able to capture the essence of each character in his writing. He leaves me feeling as if I personally know Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin. I applaud Mezrich on his stimulating book of how two very unsocial students ironically became heads of the Social Network.

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  • Posted March 17, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    The Purposeful Billionaires

    Yes, I admit I saw the movie prior to reading the book. The movie was entertaining and I had a reflexive moment (or two) to run back home & immediately cancel my facebook account. The book by Ben Mezrich provides more details then the movie adaptation but also creates some timeline confusion. From the beginning Mezrich writes a caveat that some of the incidents described may be "compressed" because they occur over a long period of time. Additionally, if you saw the movie the chronology of the events in the book don't mirror up. Also, the movie tells the story as if it were being recounted via the testimony during the dispositions while the book tells it in real time with no mention of anyone being in a court house or being deposed.

    Once you get past those points the book is an enjoyable read if somewhat one-sided given that Mark Zuckerberg declined to speak with Mezrich so just like in the movie he comes across as the villain. Which brings me to the title. I don't see anyone here being "accidental" billionaires. Zuckerberg had a plan and he executed it. The Winkllevoss' were apparently already rich and they got a nice check on top of that. And the doe-eyed described Eduardo Saverin hooked/partnered knowingly with Zuckerberg because the idea was a good one.

    The biggest drawback to the book is the lack of history. The reader isn't given a sense, except for in brief glimpse, as to the childhood of any of the characters to any depth or their parents. And speaking of the parents; where are they? They never appear at all in the story line (except for the Winkllevoss' dad) & even though we're talking about university age people one would have to wonder where the parents of Zuckerberg are during his review board hearing, when he flew out to California. Did he discuss it with them? Did he just ignore them and go anyway? How about Saverin's dad? Did he seek his advice on what was happening? I was hoping the book would provide more depth into this then the movie but it did not.

    Also, similar to books on the founders of Google, this story has yet to come close to completion. Although, also like the Google story, given how fast companies rise now and then plummet the story of facebook may already be on the decline. Up next; Look for someone to write the (in)complete story of the Groupon founder.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 15, 2011

    The Founding of Facebook

    This was a fast and fascinating read!

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  • Posted March 6, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Interesting read

    A quick read. Unfortunately, I saw the movie first which ruined the book a bit.
    A nice glimpse behind the scenes at the start of Facebook. Painful narrative for those who fell, success story of those who rose.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 3, 2011

    Rarely Stated...Watch the Movie

    This is just an Okay Book. Filled with a lot of "filler" that I didn't care to read about. I don't care read about the in depth descriptions of the Harvard Campus, which I precieved as the writer using the decriptions to fill in space since he couldn't get both sides of the story. At least the movie is entertaining.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 28, 2011

    Its amazing how these two books are alike!

    This book and "The 50 Laws of Control: The music industry edition", are amazingly similar if read with depth!... The schemes used to control people and manipulate a industry (internet/music) are similar. It is funny to me that a computer hacker develops a site to where you must give him all of your personal information and photos in order to fully participate. "The 50 Laws of Control" is a MUST READ!!!!!!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 27, 2011

    Nice Book

    Superb book ....nice...<<<...>>>>...&&&&&....""""""....

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  • Posted February 26, 2011

    Kritters Ramblings

    From the true story in the news to the movie - I have seen and heard everything about the history of how Facebook was started and the person Mark Zuckerberg is. The news covered everything from a very logical side where everyone's opinions were shared. The movie definitely did not side with Zuckerberg.

    The book - a whole different story (pun intended). Seeing as some of the people involved decided not to partake in the interviews, I felt that this book was very one-sided. I think it should have be renamed - Eduardo's story because the author definitely interviewed him and the story was really based on him and his adventures. A co-founder of facebook and its first investor - he is also on the list of people who Mark screwed over on his way to becoming the youngest billionaire.

    I would pass this book onto those who are interested in the facebook story and want to hear something different from what was told in the movie and in the news. A great read with an interesting take on the story of facebook

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  • Posted February 24, 2011

    Good Book

    Nice book...<<<...>>>..."""...&&&...

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  • Posted February 15, 2011

    fascinating

    Since I started reading this book, Egypt has been transformed due, in large part to facebook. That clearly highlights the power of the medium

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  • Posted February 2, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    A Very Interesting Story

    This book is what the movie "Social Network" is based on. A very intresting story of young men who became billionaires. It is a good book and if it was fiction you would say it isn't realistic, but it is real. Facebook has become a part of everybody's daily life and this tells how it came about and the people who got hurt along the way. Just like the big boys play.

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