Arkady Volozh

Arkady Yuryevich Volozh (russian: Аркадий Юрьевич Волож; born 11 February 1964) is a Russian technology entrepreneur, and founder of Yandex. Yandex is one of Europe's largest Internet companies, operating Russia's most popular search engine. Volozh co-founded several IT enterprises in his early days, and pioneered the development of search with new technology advancements and search software companies.

Early life

Volozh was born in Guryev, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Atyrau, Kazakhstan) into a Russian-Jewish family. His father was a petroleum geologist, and his mother was a music teacher. He attended Republican School of Physics and Mathematics in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and then studied applied mathematics at Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, graduating in 1986.

Career

Volozh is a serial entrepreneur with a background in computer science. After working at a state pipeline research institute, he started a small business importing personal computers from Austria. He went on to co-found several IT enterprises besides Yandex, including a Russian provider of wireless networking technology InfiNet Wireless, and CompTek International, one of the largest distributors of network and telecommunications equipment in Russia.

Volozh co-founded CompTek in 1989. He also started working on search in 1989, which led to him establishing Arkadia Company in 1990. The company was developing search software. In 1993, Arkady Volozh and Ilya Segalovich developed a search engine for "non-structured information with Russian morphology".Andy Atkins-Krüger, Search Engine Land
Yandex: Not Copying But Searching For Google's Underbelly
Retrieved 2011-04-30.

Arkady co-founded Yandex in 1997, later leaving his position as CEO of CompTek International to become the CEO of Yandex in 2000.Management team
. Yandex corporate site. Retrieved 2011-04-30.

As part of a larger effort to spread machine learning, Volozh and the Yandex team established the Yandex School of Data Analysis in 2007, offering a free master's level program in data science. The program has grown to include six branches, online courses, and other learning programs through multiple partnerships. In 2018, the school opened a branch in Tel Aviv to launch a one-year career advancement program in machine learning.

Resignation from Yandex

On 3 June 2022, the European Union sanctioned Volozh as part of its package of sanctions against Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine, citing the role of Yandex in "promoting state media and narratives in its search results" and removing "content related to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine". The same day, Yandex released a statement saying that Volozh would resign from his posts and step down from the board of directors, effective immediately.

Personal life

Volozh is married, and he has three children. In December 2020, his net worth was an estimated . Following the fall of the share price of Yandex stock as a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Volozh's net worth at the end of February 2022 was estimated to be .

In 2016, Volozh applied for and received Maltese citizenship through its investment program.

Volozh lives in Tel Aviv, and he holds an Israeli passport, according to ''Wired''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volozh, Arkady
1964 births
Living people
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology faculty
People from Atyrau
Russian technology company founders
Yandex people