In one sworn document, a real estate broker for the man suing Mr. Zuckerberg testified that Mr. Zuckerberg’s own real estate broker referred to him as “just a kid.” 
 
 It appears to be the kind of gloves-off tenor characterizing the dispute. Photo 
 
 Mark Zuckerberg likes his privacy, but he’s in an increasingly public battle with a would-be neighbor in Palo Alto, Calif., that threatens to expose details of his personal life and conduct. According to court filings reported on by Bloomberg, Voskerician then made Zuckerberg an offer that would preserve his privacy: He would sell Zuckerberg the entire property if the Facebook billionaire would introduce the developer to his important Silicon Valley contacts. But Patrick Gunn, a lawyer for Mr. Zuckerberg, said “the claims asserted in the lawsuit have no merit and my client intends to defend them vigorously.” 
 
 As described in the lawsuit, in 2012 a part-time local developer named Mircea Voskerician went under contract to spend $4.8 million to buy a house adjoining Mr. Zuckerberg’s residence. Emails between Zuckerberg and his inner circle indicate that the Facebook chief had no intention of helping Voskerician other than in a "light" way. The statement reads that Mr. Zuckerberg “would introduce Mr. Voskerician to other influential people (including persons associated with Google, Facebook and Apple) who might be interested in real estate or other transactional relationships.” 
 
 “He indicated that he would refer Mr. Voskerician to others and promote him through his connections, his friends, clients of Facebook and others that Mr. Zuckerberg knew to be influential,” the declaration says. One of the reasons I went with your offer other than maintaining your privacy was your offering to help me get my homes, development projects, in front of your Facebook employees and build a relationship with you.” 
 
 Sustainable Living 
 
 Voskerician also asked for a 30-minute meeting with Zuckerberg to discuss a project involving “modern science based sustainable social living” using an an “open source” model akin to Facebook’s “Open Compute Platform.” 
 
 E-mails suggest the Zuckerberg team had zero interest. As Voskerician pressed his demands more insistently, Makan’s firm, Iconiq Capital LLC, snapped up other properties surrounding Zuckerberg’s home, buying one for $10.5 million, another for $14 million and a third for $14.5 million, according to the Santa Clara County tax assessor’s office.
– Mark Zuckerberg values his privacy so much that he's willing to spend tens of millions to buy up neighboring properties. Now, however, he's in a legal battle with a developer and would-be neighbor that threatens to make public details about his personal life and finances, reports the New York Times. It's a little convoluted, but Russian-born developer Mircea Voskerician accuses Zuckerberg of reneging on a promise to introduce him to Silicon Valley contacts, and one of his court filings demands details about Zuckerberg's personal finances. Team Zuckerberg, meanwhile, accuses Voskerician of extortion and says he's “going out of his way to embarrass Mr. Zuckerberg and pressure those around him.” As Bloomberg previously reported, this began when Voskerician sent Zuckerberg a letter in 2012 saying he was under contract to buy a property next to Zuckerberg's and planned to put up a home with a direct view of Zuckerberg's home. However, he said he'd be willing to sell Zuckerberg part of the property to buffer his privacy. After negotiations, Zuckerberg eventually bought Voskerician's rights to the entire property for $1.7 million, then paid the owners another $4.8 million for the lot, reports Business Insider. Voskerician says he could have gotten a better deal but took the offer because of Zuckerberg's promise. Bloomberg says one 2013 email, from Zuckerberg assistant Andrea Besmehn, could be key: “I just had a quick chat with Mark on this issue—and he said he does remember saying that he would help this guy in a ‘light’ way. Is there a way when we chat with him that we can find out a way for us (not necessarily Mark) to help him with something small? Also ... we’ll have to manage this carefully because we don’t want to give an inch and then...” Zuckerberg had to give a deposition Wednesday. "Stay tuned," advises VentureBeat. "Zuckerberg’s life might become a lot less private in the next few months. And a new Silicon Valley melodrama might on the way." (Click to read Zuck's standard hiring question.)