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Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

nytimes.com

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Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#21

Post by kirillseva »

EGreg wrote: post #17

Quick, investigate pg for Russia collusion LOL. But seriously, let's put these reactions in perspective. Supposs the same was revealed the other way, about a US company having ties to the US government investing in Russian technology. We wouldn't bat an eye. This hysteria about Russian collusion makes us waste our energy and attention which is necessary to pay attention to the real issues (which I list below.) I am n…

Be careful when posting unpopular opinions on internet forums! You might get downvoted and get no constructive criticism in return

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#22

Post by [deleted] »

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #19

I don't really get the hysteria. I work for an American company in San Francisco that has Tencent (practically an arm of the Chinese government) as a major investor. The number of times our CEO came in and told me that we need to implement features that benefit our geopolitical competitor is exactly zero. What precisely do all the commenters that are panicking here think happens at companies where the investors are p…

[deleted]

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#23

Post by raverbashing »

mercer wrote: post #16
seizethecheese wrote: post #10

Concerns about Milner And his ties to YC are not new. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3143604

pg's comments there are interesting.

Yup

The aspect of "VCs fine like him because he makes fewer requirements" is a very interesting one and I'm not in the least feeling sorry for the VCs

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#24

Post by lukasm »

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #19

I don't really get the hysteria. I work for an American company in San Francisco that has Tencent (practically an arm of the Chinese government) as a major investor. The number of times our CEO came in and told me that we need to implement features that benefit our geopolitical competitor is exactly zero. What precisely do all the commenters that are panicking here think happens at companies where the investors are p…

> The number of times our CEO came in and told me that we need to implement features that benefit our geopolitical competitor is exactly zero.

Why would anyone told you that? Clearly, someone would told you to implement X because Y when the real reason is Z.

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#25

Post by [deleted] »

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #19

I don't really get the hysteria. I work for an American company in San Francisco that has Tencent (practically an arm of the Chinese government) as a major investor. The number of times our CEO came in and told me that we need to implement features that benefit our geopolitical competitor is exactly zero. What precisely do all the commenters that are panicking here think happens at companies where the investors are p…

[deleted]

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#26

Post by toyg »

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #19

I don't really get the hysteria. I work for an American company in San Francisco that has Tencent (practically an arm of the Chinese government) as a major investor. The number of times our CEO came in and told me that we need to implement features that benefit our geopolitical competitor is exactly zero. What precisely do all the commenters that are panicking here think happens at companies where the investors are p…

It also means that said government has unfettered access to your books, reports and IP. They know everything you do. This can be significant in companies like Facebook, that are critical to propaganda efforts and are increasingly gamed in systematic ways by state actors. If they know everything about FB internal operations, they can probably exploit its weaknesses in very effective ways.

EDIT: to clarify, I used FB here as a generic example, I am not alleging that Milner got that sort of access at Facebook specifically - although it is possible, as others point out downthread. Corporate espionage certainly gets much easier when you have a seat on the board and/or you can do due diligence.

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#27

Post by throwawaysml »

Is the difference to Chinese and Saudi money floating in the valley that we expect violent repercussions for anyone that opposes some aspect of the financiers' wishes? Or is it just that Russia is the most outspoken big nation that takes a different stance on critical issues where, say, Saudi and DC are in agreement. And that this is a danger to post-WW2 US influence? Genuinely curious.

Back when Milner invested in Facebook I viewed it as potential money laundering and didn't think about it too much.

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#28

Post by toyg »

pinewurst wrote: post #13
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The additional Kremlin state ties seem only an additional technicality The line between investing for potentially-corrupt interests and acting at the behest of a geopolitical competitor is night and day. DST didn't just hand cash over to companies. They conducted extensive diligence and sat on Boards.

Maybe that wasn't good phrasing. I'm trying to say that I never saw the division between those corrupt interests and the nation state they belonged to. I always felt they were acting in their national interests. What will be interesting here is how fast it falls off HN.

Already the title has been changed to take his name off.

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#29

Post by Judgmentality »

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #19

I don't really get the hysteria. I work for an American company in San Francisco that has Tencent (practically an arm of the Chinese government) as a major investor. The number of times our CEO came in and told me that we need to implement features that benefit our geopolitical competitor is exactly zero. What precisely do all the commenters that are panicking here think happens at companies where the investors are p…

Although I tend to agree with you, are you high enough up in the company to know how Tencent has influenced the company? Even so, much like you I'm skeptical that investing in startups is part of some illuminati scheme to spread political influence. I think people on the internet just love to jump on the bandwagon, and right now being associated with Russia is a controversial subject.

I think people with money want to invest in order to make more money. Unless people can point to Russian money somehow having an obvious pattern on startup investing, there just doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary (rich people trying to get richer).

Re: Kremlin Cash Behind Yuri Milner’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

#30

Post by pen2l »

seizethecheese wrote: post #10

Concerns about Milner And his ties to YC are not new. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3143604

> I meant that even if Yuri's money was tainted in some way, it was being used as a counterweight to another bad thing.

Dammit, this is disappointing. I really thought pg was above saying things like that.

Between this, thiel, and some other things, I am quite bummed out.

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