SINGAPORE — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most famous chief executives in the world. His former business partner and friend, Eduardo Saverin, is big in Singapore.
The Brazilian-born billionaire became a household name in 2010 when his skirmishes with Zuckerberg over the future of Facebook were dramatized in the Hollywood film “The Social Network,” which portrayed Saverin as a nice — but naive — young entrepreneur.
Saverin was squeezed out of Facebook early on and found his stake in the internet juggernaut diluted to less than 10 percent from 34 percent. Today, after further dilution and the sale of some of his shares, his stake is about two percent, according to a person familiar with the matter.
But two percent can go a long way, given that Facebook is expected to go public this month with a valuation of as much as $95 billion. It can go especially far in Singapore, a major financial center better known for banning the sale of chewing gum and caning criminals than for a thriving technology scene or big celebrities.
Since his arrival, the 30-year-old Saverin has attracted intense interest in Singapore. Singaporeans keep track of his nocturnal social habits and gossip about his love life and flashy style. Many of them hoped he would reach deep into his pockets to fund local tech start-ups, but so far his investments in the city-state, which have included backing a local cosmetics company, have been limited.
Saverin is regularly spotted lounging with models and wealthy friends at local nightclubs, racking up tens of thousands of dollars in bar tabs by ordering bottles of Cristal Champagne and Belvedere vodka, according to onlookers. He drives a Bentley, his friends say, wears expensive jackets and lives in one of Singapore’s priciest penthouse apartments.
Saverin did not respond to multiple interview requests.
Other Facebook founders have followed a somewhat different path, at least publicly. Zuckerberg is most often seen in public walking his dog and continues to wear his signature zip-up hoodies and drive an Acura. Fellow Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz launched a work-collaboration start-up and has pledged, along with Zuckerberg, to give half his wealth to charity. The fourth Facebook cofounder, Chris Hughes, worked for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and recently bought a controlling stake in The New Republic.
With dozens of fans hoping for a sighting, Saverin holds a Kardashian-like status in Singapore. Local websites set up forums with threads entitled “Where does one meet Eduardo Saverin in Singapore?” while bloggers and journalists have written lengthy posts after spending mere seconds with the billionaire.
Singapore’s tightly-controlled local media is largely free of the tabloids that hound celebrities in places like the US. Local press reports have referred to Saverin as a “Facebook legend,” “nice and humble” and “generous” when spending on his friends in nightclubs. Night-life magazines refer to him as one of “Singapore’s hottest partygoers.”
From a pure branding perspective, Saverin’s activities are good for the city-state, according to Ash Singh, an investor and the CEO behind “Angel’s Gate,” an Asia-based reality-TV series focusing on investment and entrepreneurship. “Is Eduardo an entrepreneur? I don’t know,” he said. “But he did well for himself, he has come here, there is a movie about him and people aspire to be like him.”
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