The US magazine Forbes has published an article where some Russian IT billionaires with ties to Russia do not want to be called Russian. Here are these people:
- Pavel Durov. According to a spokesperson, Durov left Russia long ago and has no plans to return there. He has French citizenship (he also has a passport from St. Kitts and Nevis), he lives in the UAE, where the Telegram team is located. Therefore, according to the spokesperson, it is wrong to call Durov a “Russian entrepreneur.”
- Brothers Igor Bukhman and Dmitri Bukhman. They are Playrix co-founders. Igor and Dmitri were born in Vologda, Russia. The majority of the Playrix team is based in offices in the Russian Federation. However, the brothers moved the business to Ireland back in 2013. According to Forbes, the Bukhmans, who now live in London, asked Forbes to be listed as citizens of Israel, where they immigrated in 2016, rather than Russia.
- Nik Storonsky is one of the two co-founders of Revolut. A PR team asked Forbes to mention that Nik is a UK citizen. Unlike the individuals listed above, Revolut condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine.
- Yuri Milner is probably the most famous Russian investor. He was an early backer of Facebook and Twitter and has made a fortune on lucrative deals. Milner was born in Moscow, where he also received his education. However, as he states, he has been a citizen of Israel, where he moved in 2005, since 1999. Also, he has been a resident of California, the US, since 2014. Milner says that he has no assets in Russia, does not know Putin, and has not been to Russia since 2014. Therefore, he asks not to identify him as a Russian.
