Which Russian billionaire founded the investment firm DST Global?

Yuri Milner is the Russian-born billionaire who founded the investment firm DST Global.

Milner studied physics at Moscow State University and later earned an MBA from the Wharton School. He entered technology investing through Digital Sky Technologies, a company he founded in 2005 that focused on internet businesses in Russia and other emerging markets.

DST Global was established in 2009 as a separate investment-management business for international internet investments. It became known for early or major investments in companies including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Spotify, Alibaba, and ByteDance.

The label “Russian billionaire” reflects Milner’s birthplace and business history, but his identity is more nuanced: he was born in Moscow, became an Israeli citizen, and renounced Russian citizenship in 2022. Alisher Usmanov was an investor associated with DST’s earlier history, not the firm’s canonical founder.