Home / Business and Economy / Yandex Founder Ditches Russian Citizenship
Yandex Founder Ditches Russian Citizenship
27 Feb
Summary
- Arkady Volozh renounced his Russian citizenship this week.
- He now heads Nebius Group NV, focusing on AI data centers.
- Nebius's market cap tripled to $25 billion in the past year.
Arkady Volozh, the founder of Yandex, has renounced his Russian citizenship. This decision was confirmed this week, approximately two years after he sold his stake in the Russian technology giant. Volozh, who is 62 years old, now fully directs his focus toward his Dutch neocloud company, Nebius Group NV.
He holds an Israeli passport and has resided there for over a decade. Volozh had previously resigned as Yandex's CEO in June 2022 after facing EU sanctions, which were later dropped. In 2024, Yandex's Russian operations were sold for $5.2 billion.
Nebius, renamed from Yandex's former Dutch holding company, has regained its Nasdaq listing. Volozh is now concentrating on developing data centers for artificial intelligence, securing significant deals with tech giants. The company's market capitalization has surged by nearly three times in the past year, now valued at around $25 billion.
