Leader in the Russian Internet and beyond
Founded in 2005 by Yuri Milner and
Gregory Finger
Managed and controlled by founders
Raised and invested over $1 billion in capital
Backed by Russian and
Western Funds
Represented in Moscow and London
– CEO and Founding Partner
Yuri Milner is CEO and Founding Partner of DST. At DST, Yuri led the investments in over two dozen leading Internet companies and raised over $1bn in 8 rounds of financing. Currently, Yuri serves on the board of directors of Mail.ru, vKontakte and Forticom. Yuri also serves as a member of the Presidential Commission for Modernisation and Technological Development of Russia's Economy. Before DST, Yuri held various management positions in Russia, including the CEO of Mail.ru between 2001 and 2003, where he turned the company around operationally and positioned it to become the #1 Russian language website. Between 1990 and 1992 Yuri attended Wharton Business School and later joined the World Bank where he was involved in the development of the financial sector in Russia. He returned to Russia in 1996 and was responsible for the first tender offer for a public company in post Soviet times. Yuri started investing in the Internet sector in 1999. Yuri graduated from Moscow State University in 1985 with an advanced degree in theoretical physics and subsequently conducted research at the Institute of physics in the Russian Academy of Sciences between 1985 and 1989.
– President and Founding Partner
Gregory Finger is President and Founding Partner of DST where he has participated in numerous high profile investments in leading Internet companies. Gregory is also Chairman of the Board of Astrum Online, the market leading MMOG Company in the Russian speaking world and serves on the boards of Mail.ru and Headhunter.ru. Gregory started investing in the Internet sector in 1999. Between 1992 and 2005 Gregory was the head of the Moscow office of New Century Holdings, the largest Western financial investor in the Russian speaking and Eastern Europe markets. At NCH, Gregory worked with over 15 investment funds with his latest fund having $3 billion in assets under management. Gregory also made the first Internet investments on behalf of NCH, which was an early investor in Mail.ru. Gregory graduated with honors from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering (1988) with a specialization in automated control systems
– Partner
Alexander Tamas joined DST as a Partner in 2008 and established a presence for DST in London from where he is spearheading some of DST’s international efforts. Alexander serves on the Board of Forticom, one of the largest social networking companies globally, and on the Board of Mail.ru. Prior to DST, Alexander worked in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in London where he was responsible for numerous technology and Internet IPOs in Europe and Russia, mergers and acquisitions in the Internet and software sectors and fundraisings for high-growth companies across Europe. Before Goldman Sachs, Alexander co-founded Arma Partners and helped to build it to one of Europe’s leading independent technology M&A advisory firms with a presence in London and Silicon Valley. Alexander holds a BA form the Catholic University of Eichstaett and a the MA in Business, Finance and Accounting from the Goethe University, Frankfurt.
– Partner
Verdi Israelian joined DST as a Partner in 2009. Verdi is overseeing the Russian operations of DST and serves on the boards of several DST portfolio companies. Prior to DST, Verdi co-headed CIS operations of European Special Situations Group at Goldman Sachs in Moscow, where he led several private equity investments in consumer, retail, new media and real estate sectors in Russia and Kazakhstan. Before Goldman Sachs, Verdi was a deputy head of Russia Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley and completed multiple IPO and M&A transactions, helping to raise over $5bn for Russian corporations. Verdi started his career at Arthur Andersen and worked at Lehman Brothers in London. Verdi holds an MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands.
