Petersburg, but left Russia in 2013 after tangling with Putin’s government over censorship issues. Pavel Durov, for example, was born in St. To be sure, many really have moved on from their homeland. “His wealth was not gained during President Putin's tenure, he is not a friend of Putin's, and has absolutely no contact with Putin,” an associate of Rappoport’s told Forbes in May over email. That includes Nikolay Storonsky, founder of U.K.-based banking app Revolut, who holds dual U.K.-Russian citizenship and Andrei Rappoport, who has Russian, Israeli, Cypriot and Portuguese citizenship, but lives in Lugano, Switzerland, where he has a residency permit. This year, another 8 Soviet-born billionaires with multiple citizenships asked Forbes to erase mention of their Russian papers. Of course, Milner is hardly the only billionaire to minimize their Russian background since Putin invaded Ukraine, reflecting the social pressures of the war. In 2020, Milner asked Forbes to list his citizenship as Israeli, rather than dual Israeli-Russian. His website’s fact sheet insists Milner has “never met Vladimir Putin, either individually or in a group” and that “97% of Yuri’s personal wealth was created outside of Russia.” (By that logic, $219 million of Milner’s estimated $7.3 billion fortune was created in Russia). Simultaneously, Milner has sought to downplay his ties to Russia. Milner did not respond to requests for comment on how much of that pledge has been fulfilled. In April, the Milners pledged another $100 million to support Ukrainian refugees through a new “Tech for Refugees” initiative, in partnership with tech companies that Milner has invested in. The Breakthrough Prize Foundation, the nonprofit group he cofounded and leads, condemned the war on March 3 and announced a $3 million donation to an unnamed “international relief organization.” A similar denunciation from DST Global followed, while Milner and his wife, Julia, contributed $5.5 million to Stand With Ukraine, a GoFundMe campaign started by Ukraine-born actress Mila Kunis and her husband, actor and venture capitalist Ashton Kutcher. since 2011, according to his website.Īfter Russia’s invasion in February, Milner was quick to express solidarity with Ukraine. In addition to his Russian citizenship, Milner has been an Israeli citizen since 1999, and lived in the U.S. In 1990, he became one of the first Soviet Union-born students to attend the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. (Unlike Milner, neither Turlov nor Vardanyan denounced the war).īorn in Moscow in 1961, Yuri Milner grew up in the Soviet Union and graduated in 1985 from Moscow State University with a degree in theoretical physics. Ruben Vardanyan, who made his fortune cofounding investment firm Troika Dialog in the early 1990s, renounced his Russian citizenship in September after declaring Armenian citizenship and moving to Nagorno-Karabakh, a contested region between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Timur Turlov, founder of retail brokerage Freedom Holding, received a Kazakh passport in June, for which he was required to renounce his Russian citizenship. Milner is the third known Soviet-born billionaire to renounce their Russian citizenship during the war. Milner did not respond to Forbes’ requests for comment on the timing of his announcement. The process, which includes a multi-step application process, can take up to six months, according to the Russian Consulate in San Francisco’s website. “hy announcing this today though? what happened?” wrote one user.Īccording to a “ fact sheet” on his personal website, Milner “officially completed the process of renouncing his Russian citizenship” in August 2022. The timing of Milner’s latest announcement – following yet another vicious Russian bombing campaign across Ukrainian cities – drew some skepticism on social media.
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