The twins were raised in the US state of Connecticut and both majored in economics while studying at Harvard. Per Forbes, the twins said they grew up in an entrepreneurial and business-focused household.

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The brothers, who are known for their 1.96 metre height, competed in the rowing coxless pairs at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Per a profile of Tyler on the Olympics website, the brothers started rowing together in senior school and later at Harvard University.

The Facebook lawsuit

At Harvard, with classmate Divya Narendra, they started university social networking site, Harvard Connection, later known as ConnectU. The story goes that they asked Mark Zuckerberg to help them expand the social network to other universities, which later led to a legal battle and a he-said, she-said argument over the origins of Facebook. In a lengthy lawsuit, Zuckerberg and the twins eventually reached an agreement that saw Tyler and Cameron receive a US$65 million payout from the Facebook boss.

The feud was detailed in The Social Network, setting the groundwork for Tyler and Cameron’s place in the public eye. Directed by David Fincher, the film was based on the 2009 book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, by Ben Mezrich.

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The move to cryptocurrency …

Per The New York Times, the brothers established Winklevoss Capital, with investments in start-up shopping website Hukkster and digital platform SumZero, aimed at professional money managers.

… Leading to more legal problems

In 2022, the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and other big players not only resulted in regulatory crackdowns but also cryptocurrency in general falling from grace. For much of 2023 the cryptocurrency market continued to bear the brunt of 2022’s events, although there have been some signs of hope, with bitcoin more than doubling its price in 2023, per Reuters.

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In October 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Gemini Trust, Genesis Global Capital and Digital Currency Group of misleading investors. Per The New York Times, in a lawsuit filed on October 19 the attorney general claims the companies lied to investors and concealed losses in a US$1 billion fraud scheme. “Hardworking New Yorkers and investors around the country lost more than a billion dollars because they were fed blatant lies that their money would be safe and grow if they invested it in Gemini Earn,” James’ lawsuit reads, referring to an investment programme Gemini ran with Genesis.

The Sam Bankman-Fried connection

In another blow to the brothers, in November it was reported that Gemini Trust Co, the company founded by Tyler and Cameron, was being sued by its partner and cryptocurrency lenders, Genesis Global.

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Genesis Global sought to recover US$689 million that customers of the companies withdrew, causing Genesis to collapse and claim bankruptcy in January, per Reuters. The twins involvement in cryptocurrency has been widely condemned, with a think piece in New York Magazine referring to their “second act” as “abandoning the rules to get bigger than they could handle”.