Israeli-Russian billionaire Yuri Milner said on Monday that, following his departure from Russia in 2014, he had surrendered his Russian citizenship.
He announced his choice on Twitter Friday, noting his 2014 departure from Russia following the invasion of Crimea.
Milner, the founder of the online investment company DST Global, amassed wealth by placing bets on Chinese technology firms including the e-commerce sites Alibaba and JD.com (9618.HK).
“My family and I left Russia for good in 2014, after the Russian annexation of Crimea,” Milner said in a tweet. “And this summer, we officially completed the process of renouncing our Russian citizenship.”
Milner has been an Israeli citizen since 1999 and has not visited Russia since 2014, according to a fact sheet on DST Global’s website.
Reports revealed that the billionaire has no assets in Russia and 97% of his personal wealth was created outside of the country.
The website also revealed that, “Yuri has never met Vladimir Putin, either individually or in a group.”