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DST Global

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Primarily focusing on late-stage growth within the consumer internet^[1] sector, DST Global is an investment firm established by Yuri Milner in 2009. It operates as the main investment conduit following the IPO of Mail.ru Group, which was originally set up as Digital Sky Technologies. With a portfolio of over 80 companies, DST Global’s investments are primarily international, guided by business logic rather than geopolitical motivations. The firm stands out for its distinctive investment approach, which involves not pursuing board seats in substantial deals, thereby enabling company founders. DST Global operates from several worldwide locations, including Menlo Park, New York, London, Beijing, and Hong Kong, while its funds’ registered office is in the Cayman Islands. It has been instrumental in molding the global tech sphere, all the while maintaining a firm position on geopolitical matters such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Terms definitions

1. ↑ internet. The Internet, a global network of interconnected computer systems, utilizes standardized communication protocols, predominantly TCP/IP, to connect devices across the globe. The term 'Internet' has its roots in the 1849 term 'internetted' and was later adopted by the US War Department in 1945. The inception of the Internet can be traced back to the 1960s when computer scientists developed time-sharing systems, which eventually led to the creation of ARPANET in 1969. The Internet operates autonomously, without any central control, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) manages its primary name spaces. It has revolutionized traditional communication methods and has seen an exponential growth, with the number of internet users growing by 20% to 50% every year. In 2019, more than half of the global population was using the Internet. The Internet protocol suite, comprising TCP/IP and four conceptual layers, directs internet packets to their intended destinations. Fundamental services such as email and Internet telephony function on the Internet. The World Wide Web, an extensive network of interconnected documents, serves as a crucial element of the Internet.

DST Global (Wikipedia)

DST Global is a venture capital and private equity firm that primarily invests in late-stage internet companies. DST Global has been described as one of the largest and most influential venture firms in the world, with an estimated $50 billion in assets under management. DST Global's founder is Yuri Milner and its co-founders are Saurabh Gupta, John Lindfors, Rahul Mehta and Tom Stafford. The company was founded in 2009 as a spinoff from Russian company Digital Sky Technologies, which became Mail.ru Group (later the VK company). In the early 2010s, DST Global international investments were focused on emerging markets such as China.

DST Global

Company type	Private
Industry	Investment management
Founded	2009; 15 years ago (2009)
Founders	Yuri Milner Saurabh Gupta John Lindfors Rahul Mehta Tom Stafford
Headquarters	Cayman Islands
Products	Venture capital Private equity
AUM	US$50 billion
Website	www.dst-global.com

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