the accidental billionaires by ben mezrich

With a cast of characters who wouldn't be out of place in any soap opera (handsome Olympic athletes, nerdy computer geeks and ambitious, business-minded immigrants) and a plot to match, this is a story complicated only by its (assumed) truth. This book aims to fill in some of the gaps, and in doing so paints an interesting picture of a world where friends betray each other, money, fame and power vary massively in importance and, when it comes down to it, all anyone wants is to get laid. But, as is no doubt the case for many of the site's 250 million+ users, I knew very little about where it all came from, or how it got from a Harvard dorm-room to computers in every country I've ever been to or will ever visit. One of the first things I ask new friends is if they're on the site, and I've used it for everything from organising parties to blogging about life in Mexico for the folks back home to, ahem, Facebook-stalking the odd ex-boyfriend. Full disclosure: I've been on Facebook for approaching 4 years, log on almost daily and don't get freaked out when random strangers want to tag or poke me. If this were a movie, it would no doubt be 'inspired by a true story'.Īll that said, this is a fascinating read. That's what artistic license is all about, after all. There is simply no way of knowing how much of the story is the truth, and how much has been fabricated or exaggerated. That's why I'm calling it faction, while the publishers might prefer non-fiction. He has, however, talked to many of the key players, and from doing so has pieced together a story of what might or might not have happened. He wasn't there at the same time as them and, prior to writing this book, had never met the boys. He is a Harvard grad, but that's the only link between him and the characters in the book, also students at the Ivy League institution.

And, yet, that's exactly the claim you find on the cover of this book, a work of faction that claims to tell the inside story of the founding of Facebook.īen Mezrich is not, and never has been, associated with the social networking site. But, with a website? And a supremely geeky (in its beginnings) website like Facebook? Surely not. is the sort you'd generally associate with works by Danielle Steel or Jackie Collins. Summary: The inside story of the biggest thing in social networking sites, this is a sometimes bitter but mostly absorbing account as told by various people who, perhaps crucially, are no longer involved with Facebook.Īs subtitles go, Sex, Money, Betrayal.

The accidental billionaires by ben mezrich