Eduardo Saverin
Eduardo Saverin
Eduardo Luiz Saverin (/ˈsævərɪn/; Portuguese: [eduˈaɾdu luˈis ˈsaveɾĩ]; born March 19, 1982)[4] is a Brazilian entrepreneur and angel investor.[5] Saverin is one of the co-founders of Facebook.[6] In 2012, he owned 53 million Facebook shares[7] (approximately 2% of all outstanding shares), valued at approximately $2 billion at the time.[8][9] He also invested in early-stage startups such as Qwiki[10] and Jumio.[11]
Saverin renounced his U.S. citizenship in September 2011,[12][13] and therefore avoided an estimated $700 million in capital gains taxes; this generated some media attention and controversy.[5][14][15] Saverin stated that he renounced his citizenship because of his "interest in working and living in Singapore" where he has been since 2009,[16] and denied that he left the U.S. to avoid paying taxes.[12]
Early life and education
Eduardo Luiz Saverin was born in the city of São Paulo, to a wealthy Jewish Brazilian family,[6][17][18] and his family later moved to Rio de Janeiro. Saverin's father, Roberto Saverin,[19] was a businessman working in clothing, shipping, and real estate.[20] His mother, Sandra, was a psychologist. He has two siblings.[21] His Romanian-born grandfather, Eugenio Saverin (born Eugen Saverin), is the founder of Tip Top, a chain of children's clothing shops.[21] In 1993, the family migrated to the U.S., settling in Miami.[22]
Saverin attended Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami. He then attended Harvard University, where he was a resident of Eliot House, a member of the Phoenix S.K. Club, and president of the Harvard Investment Association. While an undergraduate at Harvard, Saverin took advantage of Brazil's lax insider trading regulations and made $300,000 via strategic investments in the oil industry.[20][23][24] In 2006, Saverin graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in economics.[25] He is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity (Eta Psi chapter of Harvard University).[26]
Career
During his junior year at Harvard, Saverin met fellow Harvard undergraduate, sophomore Mark Zuckerberg. Noting the lack of a dedicated social networking website for Harvard students, the two worked together to launch The Facebook in 2004. They each agreed to invest $1,000 in the site. Later, Zuckerberg and Saverin each agreed to invest another $18,000 in the operation.[27] As co-founder, Saverin held the role of chief financial officer and business manager.[6] On May 15, 2012, Business Insider obtained and released an exclusive email from Zuckerberg detailing how he cut Saverin from Facebook and diluted his stake.[28] Facebook filed a lawsuit against Saverin, arguing that the stock-purchase agreements Saverin signed in October 2005 was invalid. Saverin then filed a suit against Zuckerberg, alleging Zuckerberg spent Facebook's money (Saverin's money) on personal expenses over the summer.[29] In 2009, both suits were settled out of court. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed and the company affirmed Saverin's title as co-founder of Facebook. Saverin signed a non-disclosure contract after the settlement.[30][31]
Personal life
Saverin met Elaine Andriejanssen, a Chinese Indonesian woman who was educated at Raffles Girls' School and Tufts University. She comes from a family which runs several businesses in Indonesia.[34] On March 27, 2014, they got engaged and were married on June 25, 2015, in the French Riviera.[35][36] Saverin struck a deal with Ben Mezrich to write The Accidental Billionaires: A Story of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal about the founding of Facebook. Saverin severed his ties to Mezrich after the Facebook settlement.
Saverin is played by Andrew Garfield in the film The Social Network, which is based on Mezrich's The Accidental Billionaires.