Silicon Valley billionaire Milner renounces Russian citizenship

Silicon Valley billionaire Milner renounces Russian citizenship

Moscow-born venture capitalist Yuri Milner's foundations have donated at least $11 million to help refugees from Ukraine
Moscow-born venture capitalist Yuri Milner's foundations have donated at least $11 million to help refugees from Ukraine. Photo: NIKLAS HALLE'N / AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Billionaire Silicon Valley investor Yuri Milner said Monday he had renounced his Russian citizenship.

"My family and I left Russia for good in 2014, after the Russian annexation of Crimea. And this summer, we officially completed the process of renouncing our Russian citizenship," the Moscow-born Milner tweeted.

Milner, founder of the internet investment firm DST Global and one of the original investors in Facebook, has been an Israeli citizen since 1999, DST Global said in a fact sheet on its website.

The venture capitalist and physicist has no assets in Russia and 97 percent of his wealth was created elsewhere, it said.

"Yuri has never met Vladimir Putin, either individually or in a group," it said.

Milner's non-profit Breakthrough Prize Foundation has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Read also

Jailed Putin opponent Kara-Murza wins Council of Europe rights prize

PAY ATTENTION: Follow Briefly News on Twitter and never miss the hottest topics! Find us at @brieflyza!

"As the terrible war in Ukraine continues, with casualties and atrocities mounting, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation strongly condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its unprovoked and brutal assaults against the civilian population," it said in a statement in March.

Milner's foundations have donated at least $11 million to help refugees from Ukraine and scientists forced to flee the country, according to DST Global.

Milner and the late British cosmologist Stephen Hawking in 2016 announced an ambitious space initiative for a mission to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth, using tiny light-propelled, ultra-light space vehicles, or "nanocraft".

The pair also teamed up to launch a massive search for intelligent extraterrestrial life in a $100-million, 10-year project to scan the heavens, funded by Milner.

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.