Yuri Milner: From Physicist to Business Tycoon

Yuri Milner is one of the most influential businessmen in the world, but he did not start out on that path. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1985 with a degree in Physics. He worked at one of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ institutes, called the Lebedev Physical Institute. He was also a doctoral candidate in the field of particle physics.

He left the world of science in 1990 and studied at Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania and got his MBA. From there, he went on to work at the World Bank headquartered in Washington DC until 1995 when he was appointed as the CEO of Alliance-Menatep. He also took on other roles such as investment division head at Menatep Bank and director general of New Trinity Investments.

Milner started his own internet incubator/investment fund called NetBridge in 1999. The company eventually merged with Port.ru and was renamed as Mail.ru. He also founded Digital Sky Technologies, another internet investment fund. Its global counterpart DST Global has investments in many prominent companies such as Facebook, Zynga, and Spotify.