Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, who holds the largest non-Chinese stake in the giant Xiaomi, said he is looking to invest equally in U.S. and Chinese companies in 2015, Reuters reported.
“Going forward, we will see it more balanced, ” Milner said, commewnting on the fact that, in recent years, his DST Global was putting its emphasis on China, which came to a crescendo this month in its part in a $1.1 billion funding round for Xiaomi.
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Milner wouldn’t discuss where in the U.S. he’d like to put his money, other than saying that DST is looking for later-stage start-ups with potential in international markets, especially those start-ups which one day could get valuations of more than $100 billion—like Xiaomi.
OK, the man is ambitious. We hear Yahoo could use help… My Space? Is that still a thing? AOL? LOL?
The Reuters report also mentioned that DST had invested in Indian online retailer Flipkart in a $700 million funding round earlier in December.
“India is a very interesting market which has the same possibility as the Chinese market in terms of leapfrogging offline infrastructure, ” Milner noted.
Milner’s net worth is about $2.7 billion, according to Reuters, which points out that Forbes estimated him at $1.8 billion.
He was asked about the economic crisis in his country of birth, Russia, but had nothing to say, pointing out that DST has no business in Russia, so he hasn’t been paying attention.
Ouch, Comrade Putin…
