Facebook CEO Sniffs at Ownership Lawsuit

Here’s some palace intrigue from the inner chambers of the Facebook empire that could threaten the whole enterprise: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is denying the legitimacy of a contract, allegedly signed in 2003, that would give an “upstate New York wood-pellet vendor,” as Business Insider puts it here, majority ownership of the social networking giant.  —KA

ABC News:

Facing a lawsuit from a New York man who says he’s owed a majority stake in the $25 billion dollar company, Facebook now says it suspects that the contract at the heart of the suit is a forgery.

Paul Ceglia, the owner of a wood-pellet fuel company in rural Wellsville, N.Y., filed a complaint last month alleging that he signed a contract with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2003 that entitles him to an 84 percent stake in the company.

But in an e-mail, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook said the ownership lawsuit is “absurd.”

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Flickr / Deneyterrio

Facebook honcho Mark Zuckerberg, pictured, says he’s not threatened by Paul Ceglia’s suit.