Facebook's Zuckerberg settles real estate lawsuit for no payout
By Dan Levine
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to settle a lawsuit and pay no money to a real estate developer who sued him in a dispute over property near the Facebook Inc chief executive's home in Silicon Valley, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
Developer Mircea Voskerician sued Zuckerberg in 2014, contending the CEO agreed to purchase his rights to a parcel adjacent to Zuckerberg's Palo Alto, California property.
As part of the deal, Voskerician claimed Zuckerberg agreed to introduce Voskerician to friends who could promote his real estate business, but failed to do so.
Zuckerberg fought the lawsuit, arguing in court documents that Voskerician threatened to build a large mansion on the parcel and demanded to be paid millions of dollars in exchange for "privacy consideration."
Patrick Gunn, an attorney for Zuckerberg, said in a statement on Tuesday that evidence in the case showed Voskerician relied on doctored evidence to support his claims.
"We are pleased this years-long harassment has come to an end and that plaintiff will see no financial gain from his misconduct," Gunn said.
Guyton Jinkerson, an attorney for Voskerician who joined the case in January, said he and his client had "reviewed the factual and legal premises" pursued by Voskerician's previous lawyers.
"Upon careful reflection we determined that this case should be resolved," he said. "We are pleased that the parties have been able to bring an end to this litigation."
(Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Bill Rigby)
