Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: The Accidental Billionaires

The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich 2009

In describing the origin of Facebook, Mezrich has proved that it is possible to write celebrity gossip about both Harvard University and computer geeks. Eduardo Saverin wanted to be selected by one of the elite, all-male Final clubs. His friend, Mark Zuckerburg would have rather written computer code than uttered words. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, identical twins, wanted to row in the Olympics. All hoped to grow rich by make socializing easier at Harvard. But only one of them will reap the riches that came with the explosive popularity of Facebook. And he declined to be interviewed. The subtitle summarizes the rest of this story: “A tale of sex, money, genius and betrayal”.

A timely read, as The Social Network, the movie based on this book, has just been released.