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Eduardo Saverin

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Eduardo Saverin
Saverin in 2012
Born
Eduardo Luiz Saverin

(1982-03-19) March 19, 1982 (age 42)
São Paulo, Brazil
CitizenshipBrazil (1982–present)[1][2]
United States (1998–2011)[3]
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Known forCo-founder of Facebook
Co-founder of B Capital
Spouse
Elaine Andriejanssen
​
​
(m. 2015)​
Websitefacebook.com/saverin

Eduardo Luiz Saverin (/ˈsævərɪn/ SAV-ər-in, Brazilian Portuguese: [eduˈaʁdu luˈis saveˈɾĩ] ⓘ; born March 19, 1982)[4] is a Brazilian billionaire entrepreneur and angel investor, known for having co-founded Facebook.[5] In 2012, he owned about 2% of Facebook shares,[6] valued at approximately $2 billion at the time.[7][8] Based in Singapore,[9] he is the co-founder and co-CEO of the venture capital firm B Capital, and has also invested in early-stage startups such as Qwiki[10] and Jumio.[11] Saverin is the wealthiest Brazilian, with an estimated net worth of US$32.7 billion as of 19 December 2024, according to Forbes, and the 52nd richest individual in the world.[12]

Early life and education

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Eduardo Luiz Saverin was born in São Paulo to a wealthy Jewish-Brazilian family,[5][13][14] which later moved to Rio de Janeiro. Saverin's father, Roberto Saverin,[15] was a businessman working in clothing, shipping, energy, and real estate.[16] His mother, Sandra, was a psychologist. He has two siblings.[17] His Romanian-born grandfather, Eugenio Saverin (born Eugen Saverin), is the founder of Tip Top, a chain of children's clothing shops.[17] In 1993, the family immigrated to the US, settling in Miami, Florida.[15]

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 used his interest in meteorology to predict hurricane patterns and made $300,000 via investment in oil futures.[16][18] In 2006, Saverin graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics.[19] He is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity (Eta Psi chapter of Harvard University).[20]

Career

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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 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.[21] As co-founder, Saverin held the role of chief financial officer and business manager.[5] 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.[22] Zuckerberg privately stated at the time, "Eduardo is refusing to co-operate at all ... We basically now need to sign over our intellectual property to a new company and just take the lawsuit ... I'm just going to cut him out and then settle with him. And he'll get something I'm sure, but he deserves something ... He has to sign stuff for investments and he's lagging and I can't take the lag." Zuckerberg's attorney warned Zuckerberg that the dilution might trigger a lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty. Facebook filed a lawsuit against Saverin, arguing that the stock-purchase agreement 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.[23] 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.[24][25]

In 2010, Saverin co-founded Aporta, an online portal for charity.[15] In 2015, Saverin established his venture capital firm, B Capital, investing in Southeast Asia and India.[26] In 2016, Saverin's fund closed initial deals of over $140 million in Asia, including Ninja Van, a Singaporean logistics company that engages in last mile parcel delivery in Southeast Asia.[27]

In addition to forming B Capital, in early 2020, Saverin invested in Antler, an early-stage VC fund and startup accelerator founded by his friend and Harvard classmate, Magnus Grimeland.[28][29]

In media

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Saverin is played by Andrew Garfield in the film The Social Network, which is based on Ben Mezrich's The Accidental Billionaires.[30]

Personal life

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Saverin immigrated to Singapore in 2009.[26] Saverin and Elaine Andriejanssen, an Indonesian national of Chinese descent and with partial Dutch ancestry, became engaged on March 27, 2014, and were married on June 25, 2015.[31][32] They met while they were both studying at their respective universities in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, Saverin at Harvard and Andriejanssen at Tufts.[3] Andriejanssen, who works in the finance industry, comes from a wealthy family that runs several businesses in Indonesia.[33][34] With a net worth of $16 billion, Saverin is reportedly the wealthiest person in Singapore.[35]

Saverin renounced his U.S. citizenship in September 2011,[36][37] thereby avoiding an estimated US$700 million in capital gains taxes. This generated media attention and controversy.[9][38][39] Saverin claimed that he renounced his citizenship because of his "interest in working and living in Singapore",[40] and denied that he left the U.S. to avoid paying taxes.[36]

In 2023, he acquired two chalets in the French ski resort of Courchevel for US$95 million.[41] They are linked by basements and total over 32,000 square feet.

References

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  1. ^ Kucera, Danielle; Harper, Christine & Drucker, Jesse (May 12, 2015). "Facebook Co-Founder May Gain Choosing Singapore Over the U.S." Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2015. Saverin still does hold Brazilian citizenship, Goodman said.
  2. ^ "Saverin 'has no plans to become S'pore citizen'" (PDF). Today. May 17, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Chew Hui Min (July 26, 2015). "Status update: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin marries Singapore-based Elaine Andriejanssen". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  4. ^ Internal Revenue Service (2012). "Quarterly Publication of Individuals, Who Have Chosen to Expatriate, as Required by Section 6039G". Federal Register. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c Mezrich, Ben (2009). The Accidental Billionaires. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-52937-2.
  6. ^ Eduardo Saverin (May 17, 2012). "United States Securities and Exchange Commission Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership of Securities – Eduardo Saverin". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  7. ^ Solomon, Brian (May 18, 2012). "Eduardo Saverin's Net Worth Publicly Revealed: More Than $2 Billion in Facebook Alone". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  8. ^ "The World's Billionaires 2017". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 4, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Kucera, Danielle; Vallikappen, Sanat & Harper, Christine (May 11, 2012). "Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  10. ^ Bosker, Bianca (January 20, 2011). "Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Invests In Qwiki". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  11. ^ Wauters, Robin (March 17, 2011). "Exclusive: Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Leads $6.5M Round For Jumio". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  12. ^ "Eduardo Saverin". Forbes. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  13. ^ Lipman, Jennifer (October 14, 2010). "The Social Network: How Jewish is Facebook?". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  14. ^ Amormim, Lucas (2009). "Zuckerberg: jovem, bilionário e... trapaceiro?" [Zuckerberg: young billionaire ... cheater?]. Exame (in Portuguese). Editora Abril. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  15. ^ a b c "Eduardo Saverin, o brasileiro do Facebook, conta sua história" [Eduardo Saverin, the Brazilian of Facebook, tells his story]. Veja (in Portuguese). Grupo Abril. May 26, 2012. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Tagiaroli, Guilherme; Ikeda, Ana (October 22, 2010). "Conheça Eduardo Saverin, o brasileiro que ajudou a fundar o Facebook" [Meet Eduardo Saverin, the Brazilian who helped found Facebook]. UOL (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  17. ^ a b Antunes, Anderson (May 27, 2012). "Eduardo Saverin Finally Opens Up: 'No Hard Feelings Between Me And Mark Zuckerberg". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  18. ^ Mezrich, Ben (July 17, 2009). "A Facebook Tale: Founder Unfriends Pals on Way Up". NPR. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  19. ^ "Facebook Founders Bios". Facebook. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  20. ^ "Eduardo Saverin: 10 Things To Know About The Facebook Co-Founder". International Business Times. May 4, 2012. Archived from the original on October 6, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  21. ^ Hoffman, Claire (September 15, 2010). "The Battle For Facebook". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  22. ^ Carlson, Nicholas (May 15, 2012). "Exclusive: Here's The Email Zuckerberg Sent To Cut His Cofounder Out Of Facebook". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  23. ^ Carlson, Nicholas (May 15, 2012). "Exclusive: How Mark Zuckerberg booted his co-founder out of the company". Business Insider. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  24. ^ Thomas, Owen (January 30, 2009). "Facebook Founders Settle Their Feud". Gawker. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  25. ^ Carvalho dos Santos, Alexandre; Marcelo Rainho (October 2009). "A misteriosa história do brasileiro que fundou o Facebook" [The mysterious story of the Brazilian who founded Facebook.]. Superinteressante (in Portuguese) (270). São Paulo: Editora Abril: 94–97. ISSN 0104-1789. OCLC 60743498.
  26. ^ a b Konrad, Alex. "Life After Facebook: The Untold Story Of Billionaire Eduardo Saverin's Highly Networked Venture Firm". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  27. ^ Russell, Jon (May 19, 2016). "Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin's new fund closes initial $140 Million for deals in Asia". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  28. ^ Dowd, Kevin. "Meet Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard Classmate Who Is Trying To Build A Global Startup Factory". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  29. ^ O'Hear, Steve (January 6, 2020). "Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin backs 'startup generator' Antler". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  30. ^ Karim, Anhar (November 16, 2020). "'The Social Network's' Denise Grayson On Being A Lawyer, Then Playing One". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  31. ^ Iyengar, Rishi (July 26, 2015). "Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Confirms News of Wedding in Facebook Post". Time. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  32. ^ Karmali, Naazneen (June 25, 2015). "Secret Wedding Celebration Of Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Kicks Off". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  33. ^ Chew, Hui Min (July 26, 2015). "Status update: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin marries Singapore-based Elaine Andriejanssen". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  34. ^ Chia, Stacey (June 20, 2015). "Eduardo Saverin's lover studied at Raffles Girls' School, Indonesian family runs several businesses". AsiaOne. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Archived from the original on August 19, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  35. ^ Fung, Gloria (January 30, 2024). "Who are the 10 richest billionaires in Singapore? Net worths, ranked". South China Morning Post. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  36. ^ a b Mathews, Merrill (May 23, 2012). "In Praise of Eduardo Saverin's Tax Avoidance". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  37. ^ "So How Much Did He Really Save?". The Wall Street Journal. May 18, 2012. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  38. ^ McCormick, Jason (July 11, 2012). "5 citizens who left the United States to avoid paying tax". CBS News. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  39. ^ Worstall, Tim (May 12, 2012). "IPO Will Increase, Not Reduce, His Tax Bill". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  40. ^ Benoit, David (May 17, 2012). "Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Fires Back At 'Misinformation'". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  41. ^ Grolleau, Virginie (November 7, 2023). "Un des fondateurs de Facebook s'offre deux chalets à Courchevel". Challenges (in French). Retrieved November 7, 2023.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eduardo Saverin.
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