Eduardo Saverin Biography

Eduardo Luiz Saverin () is a Brazilian internet entrepreneur and investor. Saverin is one of five co-founders of Facebook, along with Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Andrew McCollum. , he owns less than 5% of Facebook's shares and has a net worth of $2.2 billion, according to Forbes. He has also invested in early-stage startups such as Qwiki and Jumio.

Personal life

Eduardo Saverin was born in São Paulo, Brazil, to a wealthy Jewish Brazilian family, and his family later moved to Rio de Janeiro. Eduardo's father was an industrialist working in export, clothing, shipping, and real estate.

By 1993, Saverin's father had become wealthy, and in 1993 it was discovered that his son Eduardo's name had been placed on a list of potential kidnapping victims by gangs specializing in kidnapping for ransom. As a result, the family emigrated to the United States to find a safer place to live, and settled in Miami, Florida. Saverin attended Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami, and went on to Harvard University, where he was a member of the Phoenix S.K. Club as well as 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. In 2006, Saverin graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in economics. He is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity (Eta Psi chapter of Harvard University).

Saverin has lived in Singapore since 2009. In September 2011, he renounced his U.S. citizenship; the citizenship change may have reduced the capital gains taxes Saverin would have paid after the Facebook IPO. In response, Senator Chuck Schumer introduced the Ex-PATRIOT Act, which could have prevented Saverin from ever entering the U.S. again, but the bill died in committee.

Facebook

During his junior year at Harvard University, 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. As co-founder, Saverin held the role of chief financial officer and business manager.

A lawsuit filed by Facebook against Saverin and a countersuit filed by Saverin against Facebook were settled out of court. Though terms of the settlement were not disclosed, the company affirmed Saverin's title as co-founder of Facebook. Saverin signed a non-disclosure contract after the settlement.

Depictions in media

The 2010 film The Social Network depicts the relationship between Saverin and Zuckerberg from their creation of Facebook to Saverin's legal action against Zuckerberg. Actor Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Saverin was met with critical acclaim and received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor.