Mark Zuckerberg’s name is instantly recognizable as the billionaire is the founder of Facebook and is currently the company’s CEO. But he was also in the news recently for a real estate dispute that he was involved in. Zuckerberg bought the rights to property from Mircea Voskerician. Voskerician said that as part of the deal, Zuckerberg agreed to introduce him to other prominent Silicon Valley residents to help bolster his business.
That didn’t happen, according to Voskerician, even though he allegedly turned down a $4.3 million offer for the rights to the property by someone else. Voskerician says he did that because he valued the potential business connections Zuckerberg may be able to set him up with. Thus, he accepted Zuckerberg’s $1.7 million offer.
Voskerician has since dropped his lawsuit against Zuckerberg, even though a trial date had been set for April 25.
There are a couple of lessons to learn from this story, with the first being that real estate disputes are never as straightforward as they seem. Even if Voskerician’s story is true (which it may not be), his decision to drop the lawsuit could indicate a lack of evidence for his side of the case. This is why having legal help during real estate disputes is crucial.
Which leads to our second lesson: always get a real estate attorney as soon as possible if you are involved in a real estate lawsuit. Too much is at stake to leave the case to chance, so consult with an experienced lawyer immediately.
Source: San Jose Mercury News, “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg settles real estate dispute,” Queenie Wong, Accessed May 9, 2016