The New Life of Eduardo Saverin

SINGAPORE—Facebook Inc. 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 Mr. Zuckerberg over the future of Facebook were dramatized in the Hollywood film "The Social Network," which portrayed Mr. Saverin as a nice—nevertheless naive—young entrepreneur. Mr. Saverin was squeezed out of Facebook early on, and found his stake in the Internet juggernaut diluted to less than 10% from 34%. Today, afterwards further dilution and the sale of some of his shares, his stake is about 2%, according to a person familiar with the matter.

But 2% 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 research scene or big celebrities.

Mr. Saverin, who hails from a wealthy Brazilian family, has never fully articulated why he moved to Singapore in late 2009, even though he has mentioned its strategic location and business-friendly environment in his few public appearances. Those close to him say he once stopped off there during traveling in Asia and liked it.

The city-state has tried to become an Internet-research hub, with limited success. However it is increasingly known as a playground for the rich, with the world's highest percentage of millionaires, and for its glitzy night life, which has flourished since the opening of two major casinos in 2010.

Mr. Saverin was invited to judge pitches for start-up companies last June at Echelon 2011, a conference sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and others. "It was exciting because "The Social Network" movie had come out, there was a buzz about him being in Singapore, and he had just made headlines as one of the world's youngest billionaires," said Joon Ian Wong, who at that time worked for E27, the conference organizer. "Start-ups wanted to…see Saverin in the flesh," said Mr. Wong.

Facebook set the price range for its initial public offering at $28 to $35 a share, in a landmark deal that would raise as much as $13.6 billion for the social network and insiders.

Eduardo Saverin, the Brazilian-born billionaire whose skirmishes with Zuckerberg were dramatized in the "The Social Network," is leading a flashy new lifestyle in Singapore.

Samsung introduced a faster, larger version of its flagship smartphone, aimed at sustaining its growth in advanced cellphones and challenging Apple's iPhone dominance.

This group will discuss research--how companies foster it, manage it and overcome internal barriers to technology.