Economics

Pincus Faceoff With Zuckerberg Reveals Fearsome Zynga IPO: Tech

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When Zynga Inc. reached an impasse while negotiating a five-year partnership with Facebook Inc. in August 2010, Chief Executive Officer Mark Pincus demanded a one-on-one meeting with Mark Zuckerberg.

The two CEOs ate dinner at the Facebook cafeteria and held a freewheeling discussion until 2 a.m. Over the course of the meeting and two other marathon sessions that followed, Pincus convinced Zuckerberg that Zynga’s games would help Facebook add users and revenue. They forged a deal that threw Facebook’s support behind Zynga, in exchange for a cut of sales.