Yuri Milner, Fundamental Physics Prize founder, looks on during the Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation Inaugural Prize Ceremony at the CICG on March 20, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Russian entrepreneur and venture capitalist Yuri Milner only became a familiar name in the U.S. technology industry in recent years, but he’s a veteran investor. He was one of the earliest and most prominent investors in Russia’s Internet industry. In 2005, he founded Digital Sky Technologies (DST) as a vehicle for international technology investment. In 2009, DST invested $200 million for a 1.96% stake in Facebook. Since Facebook’s IPO, DST’s stake has increased in value by nearly five-fold.
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Trained as a theoretical physicist, Milner, 51, received an M.B.A. from Wharton and worked at the World Bank before becoming an Internet entrepreneur. Aside from Facebook, Milner has also purchased large stakes in Twitter, Zynga, Groupon, and Spotify. According to Forbes, Milner currently has a net worth of $1.1 billion. In 2011, Milner spent a reported $100 million to purchase a 25,500-square-foot mansion in Los Altos Hills, Calif., in Silicon Valley.