Ceglia v. Zuckerberg

772 F.Supp.2d 453 (2011)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ceglia (P) claims that pursuant to the terms of a 2003 contract between Zuckerberg (D) and himself, P owns an eighty-four percent interest in defendant Facebook. Facebook is a social media company that was founded by D in 2004. D is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Facebook, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Palo Alto, California. D's domicile was the subject of a prior unrelated federal proceeding. D asserted New York domicile as of September 2004, the date on which that case had been filed. D represented to the court that, despite his temporary residency in California, he intended to return to New York after graduating from Harvard. The court determined that D's domicile as of September 2, 2004, was New York. D never did return to New York. D remained in California where he continues to live today. From 2004 to the present, Facebook grew from a small startup internet company with only a handful of employees to an international social media company with a global presence. D is the Chairman and CEO of the company and runs its day-to-day operations. He rents an apartment in Palo Alto, California, that is within walking distance to Facebook headquarters. D has provided a sworn affidavit stating that he intends to live in California indefinitely. P claims D's actual domicile remains New York where his parents still reside. P claims that D has failed to demonstrate his intent to remain in California indefinitely and, as such, the law presumes that his prior New York domicile remains. P argues that jurisdictional discovery and a hearing are necessary to ascertain D's true domicile.