Zuckerberg ‘unsure’ if he signed away Facebook

The case of a New York man claiming an 84 per cent share in Facebook has taken a new twist after lawyers for the website admitted they were "unsure" if company founder Mark Zuckerberg signed a contract that could entitle Paul Ceglia to a majority stake in the world's biggest social networking site.
 
Ceglia launched his lawsuit last month, claiming that a deal he signed with Zuckerberg in April 2003 entitled him to most of the $25bn Facebook empire.
 
Lawyers initially dismissed the New York man's claims as "frivolous" and "outlandish" but in a court hearing in Buffalo lawyer Lisa Simpson admitted that Ceglia did have a contract with Zuckerberg in 2003.
 
Ceglia, who was then working as a web designer, claims that he employed Zuckerberg in 2003 to code a project called 'StreetFax', a photo database for insurers. While they were working together Ceglia claims that Zuckerburg told him about his plans to set up a social network for Harvard students and asked him to invest in the development. He now says he invested $1,000 in what was the forerunner to Facebook.
 
Ceglia claims he was told he wold get his money back and would be given a 50 per cent stake in the site, with an extra one per cent due for every day beyond January 1, 2004 that the site remained incomplete. The site was finished on February 4, so if his claims are true, Ceglia is entitled to 84 per cent of the vast company.
 
A copy of the contract in Ceglia's complaint refers to a site "designed to offer the students of Harvard university access to a wesite [sic] similar to a live functioning yearbook with the working title of 'The Face Book'". It also appears to have the signature of Mark Zuckerberg on it.
 
But despite admitting Zuckerberg had a contract with Ceglia, Facebook's lawyers disputed the authenticity of the document. "Whether [Zuckerberg] signed this piece of paper, we're unsure at this moment," Simpson told the court.
 
"What the contract asserts is there is a relationship about Facebook and there isn't one," she said.
 
The hearing on Tuesday concerned a temporary restraining order that prevented Facebook from transferring any assets. It was agreed that the restriction will expire on July 23. ·