Israyelyan Verdi

Biography

Morgan Stanley и Goldman Sachs

Verdi Israyeljan held a position of the associate director of investment banking division of Morgan Stanley in Russia and worked on a number of transactions on merges and absorption and the IPO.

Later in Goldman Sachs Israyelyan was the codirector of group of private investments where worked with the companies of a consumer sector, retail, the Internet and the real estate.

The headhunter, the acquaintance with Israyelyan, estimated his income in  2007 approximately at $ 2 million. But in  2008 revenues of investment banks were reduced and bankers lost a considerable part of an annual bonus, he reminds.

2009: Milner's partner in DST (Mail.ru Group)

Israyelyan passed into Digital Sky Technologies (DST) company in the summer of 2009 and became one of partners of her co-founder Yury Milner. Was engaged in management of the Russian assets of DST and was responsible for investment activities of the company in Russia.

In July, 2009 it was announced that Israyelyan will also be a part of Boards of Directors of several companies under control of DST, but what, it is not defined yet. According to a source, close to DST, the minority stake in DST was promised Israyelyan. It is a part of the option program of the company within which the share was received by Alexander Tamas.

Israyelyan said that he at the Moscow office Goldman Sachs worked with managers and other shareholders over value increase of the companies and hopes to apply this experience in DST.

In November, 2010 and Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs acted as organizers of IPO Mail.ru Group (the new name DST) on the London Stock Exchange. Having sold 36.2 million shares at the exchange, shareholders Mail.ru Group and the company earned $1.003 billion. By this moment Israyelyan was already the director of operations of group.

2012: Conflict with the founder of Habrahabr.ru

In 2012 together with Dmitry Grishin made an attempt of creation of fund for investments into startups. It was mentioned by the creator of a blogging platform of Habrahabr.ru Denis Kryuchkov:

— Why Mail.ru long did not want to discuss with you an issue of redemption of stocks of Habr?

— It seems to me that Dmitry Grishin and Verdi Israyeljan concealed on me tooth after I refused to create investment fund which they wanted to create, and for which they wanted to use a brand of Habrahabr as in the market Mail had not a really good reputation and to create fund which would be associated with Mail there was no practical sense. Grishin's idea which he to me voiced at the end of winter of the 2012th year was that he was ready to grant me the loan from the personal funds for the redemption Habra from Mail.ru by the underestimated, very underestimated assessment — several times there is less assessment by which there passed the transaction later more than year that the credit was not for me a big burden. In exchange after the redemption I had to create conditional Habrafond in which top managers of Mail.Ru Group were going to bring personal money and to invest in startups, without revealing itself. I had to be a screen, hide origin of means and hill startups which there is a lot of on Habré as you know^[1].

... Pressure was such that all this got me. My life was turned into hell and brought to the handle. At some point I decided that the peace of mind is more important than communication with these children and suggested Milner to redeem 55 percent of my shares for 55 dollars. In fact, all company was estimated at symbolical 100 dollars.

— Quite good growth of capitalization in 5 years. And really Milner refused?

— He, of course, agreed. But his effective managers, the same Verdi Israyeljan who, in general, and directed all this story on an extraction me from the company overdid. They acted as the collectors which are taking away your property for debts: the words "we gave you money, and you messed up" are the softest that I heard. As a result, they very strongly went too far when they told that I still should give them the notebook. They literally ran for me and demanded that I gave them everything, including the notebook. I was shocked — to people sold the company completely, almost for a song, but they wanted to take away everything, even my personal things. At this moment I refused to sell Habr for 55 dollars and to sign documents. They continued to insist on the transaction, called, threatened ("your company will never become profitable" — the employee of DST Felix Szpilman shouted to me in phone), demanded, but the moment was missed.

2013: Leaving from operational positions in Mail.ru Group

In June, 2013 Mail.ru Group reported that Verdi Israyeljan combining work as her chief financial officer and the director of operations is elected in Board of Directors and leaves both management positions. Israyeljan joined the board for the first time, at the same time he remains is deeply involved in management of Mail.ru Group, tells it the representative Ksenia Chabanenko^[2].

2016: Leaving Board of Directors of Mail.ru Group

In February, 2016 it was announced that the head of VKontakte social network Boris Dobrodeyev replaced Verdi Israyeljan in Board of Directors of Mail.Ru Group.

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