Yury Vladimirovich Maksimov (russian: Юрий Владимирович Максимов; born April 11, 1978,

Fryazino Fryazino ( rus, Фрязино, p=ˈfrʲæzʲɪnə) is a scientific town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Lyuboseyevka River, a tributary of the Vorya, northeast of the city of Moscow. Population: Fryazino is a center of excellence f ...

, Moscow Oblast,

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

) is a Russian entrepreneur and programmer. He co-founded Positive Technologies, serving as its CEO from 2007 to 2021. In 2021, he was appointed advisor to the Minister for Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media of the Russian Federation on a voluntary basis. According to

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

, Maksimov's fortune is estimated at USD 450 million (as of 2020).

Biography

Early years

Yury Maksimov was born on April 11, 1978, in the scientific town of

(Moscow Oblast) into a family of engineers. His parents, Vladimir and Lyudmila, worked at the 50th Anniversary of the USSR Plant in Fryazino. He was the family's second son (his elder brother, Dmitry Maksimov, is also a co-founder of Positive Technologies). In 1995, Maksimov finished school and entered the physics department of

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

. There he developed software for modeling and analyzing problems of information transmission in heterogeneous networks. He graduated as a specialist in this field in 2001. In 2004, Maksimov completed his post-graduate studies at Moscow State University.

Career start

Starting in his freshman year, Maksimov combined his studies with a programming job at Oktava+, a maker of precision instrumentation. There he began to develop his own ERP-type software for the company's measuring systems and internal operations, as well as manage international projects for the supply and implementation of foreign solutions for domestic companies and the export of Russian solutions.

Positive Technologies

In 2002, Maksimov founded Positive Technologies together with his brother Dmitry and friend Evgeny Kireev. The company's first product was the XSpider vulnerability scanner, developed by Dmitry Maksimov. The company's first office, located in Altufyevo in northern Moscow, initially had a staff of six: the three founders, a sales manager, an office manager, and a programmer.

CEO (2007–2021)

From 2004 to 2007, Yury Maksimov served as technical director of Positive Technologies. In 2007, he took over as CEO of Positive Technologies. The gradual transformation of the shareholder structure led to Maksimov owning more than 50% of the company.

International expansion

Having set up its first overseas office in 2011 in the UK, Positive Technologies then opened offices in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in 2012 and in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

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, and the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 2013. In 2014, Maksimov decided to split Positive Technologies into two companies: Russian and Swiss, with an independent development arm in Brno, Czech Republic, and sales offices worldwide. In 2021, it was reported that Yury Maksimov had sold his stake in the foreign legal entities to the top management of the Swiss company.

Change of CEO

In 2020, Yury Maksimov announced his intention to leave the post of CEO. He entrusted the task of appointing a new CEO to the top management of Positive Technologies. In 2021, after an open discussion, the position was given to Denis Baranov.

Positive Technologies goes with a direct listing

In 2020, Maksimov announced that Positive Technologies would be listed on the stock exchange. In December 2021, Positive Group carried out a direct listing on the

Moscow Exchange The Moscow Exchange (MOEX; rus, Московская биржа, r=Moskovskaya birzha, p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈbʲirʐə, a=) is the largest exchange in Russia, operating trading markets in equities, bonds, derivatives, the foreign exchange market, ...

, becoming the first Russian cybersecurity company to go public. Retaining a majority stake in the company, Yury Maksimov took on the role of chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSC Positive Group.

U.S. sanctions

On April 15, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a decree to impose sanctions on six Russian IT companies "that provide support to the Russian Intelligence Services' cyber program." Among them was one of the legal entities of Positive Technologies' Russian structure. The company was accused of supporting government agencies and holding major cybersecurity events which intelligence officers allegedly used to recruit hackers. Maksimov denied all the accusations. Following the imposition of sanctions, all American contracts with Positive Technologies were terminated. This had almost zero impact on the company's business in Russia.

Personal life

Maksimov is married with one daughter.

References

External links

Ловец хакеров: как программист Юрий Максимов построил компанию с миллиардной стоимостью и попал под санкции США

This $500 Million Russian Cyber Mogul Planned To Take His Company Public—Then America Accused It Of Hacking For Putin's Spies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maksimov, Yury 21st-century Russian businesspeople Russian computer programmers 1978 births Living people Russian technology company founders