Long read, but, Facebook you in bed with Russians? Damn you nasty.
Russia is deeply embedded into Facebook.
In 2009, Russian social-media mogul Yuri Milner invested $200 million into Facebook at a valuation of $10 billion dollars without voting rights or a seat on the board. To understand this investment, at the time the world was going through a global recession and Facebook's general valuation had dropped from the $15 billion from the year prior to $4-$6 billion in 2009. One company did offer a valuation of $8 billion, but with a seat on the board, which Zuckerberg was strongly against. In other words, Yuri Milner invested in Facebook when they were strapped for cash and at an inflated price without voting rights or a seat on the board. That's an amazing deal for Zuckerberg! long evening dresses
Here's Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg hanging out for an interview: https://techcrunch.com/…/mark-zuckerberg-and-yuri-milner-t…/
And who coordinated this deal? Alisher B. Usmanov, a Russian oligarch that earned his fortune managing steel mill subsidiaries for Gazprom.
Usmanov spent six years in prison for fraud and embezzlement in the 1980's.
In 2008, Usmanov fired a publisher and editor at one of Russia's most respected news paper after it published detailed accounts of Russian election fraud.
It is said, "His ties to the Kremlin and Facebook have stirred concerns that he might influence the company’s policies in subtle ways to appease governments in markets where Facebook is also an important tool of political dissent, such as Russia." This was in 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/…/a-russian-facebook-bet-pays-off-bi…
The leak of the Paradise Papers revealed that the money Yuri Milner used to invest into Facebook came from Gazprom, a US sanctioned Russian oil and gas company, at one point owning 9% of the company.
http://www.wired.co.uk/…/what-is-the-paradise-papers-leak-f…
Soon after, Zuckerberg and Milner became friends, meeting monthly:
https://finance.yahoo.com/…/zuckerberg-got-early-business-a…
And even spoke together in November 2015 at the 2016 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony.
http://www.wired.co.uk/…/what-is-the-paradise-papers-leak-f…
And in May 2012, Milner attended Zuckerberg's wedding. Soon after, in 2014, Milner moved to California.
http://time.com/5011000/paradise-papers-tax-havens-leak/
For those who aren't familiar with Gazprom, Gazprom financed the spy ring that in 2013 tried to recruit Trump Advisor Carter Page before being broken up by the FBI. One of the spies trying to recruit Page said of Page, "He got hooked on Gazprom."
http://foreignpolicy.com/…/russian-spy-met-trump-adviser-c…/
Around the time Yuri Milner was investing in Facebook, they lost their CFO Gideon Yu. Reason given: Facebook wanted a CFO with public company experience, suggesting they were thinking of an IPO at the time of Milner's investment (the reason given was deemed nonsensical).
https://techcrunch.com/…/confirmed-facebook-loses-cfo-gide…/
Yuri Milner's DST was one of the big winners over Facebook's botched IPO.
https://www.ft.com/con…/281a8420-a46e-11e1-a701-00144feabdc0
When Facebook was confronted about the fake new epidemic on Facebook and it's influence on the election, he said it was "crazy."
http://www.latimes.com/…/la-na-tt-zuckerberg-russians-20170…
When Facebook put out a report in April 2017, it conspicuously left out any mention of Russia:
https://arstechnica.com/…/report-facebook-cut-russia-refer…/
US political ads were at times paid for by rubles:
http://thehill.com/…/358102-franken-blasts-facebook-for-acc…
Facebook had "embeds" into the Trump campaign working with Brad Parscale, Trumps digital director.
https://mashable.com/…/facebook-responds-embeds-trump-cam…/…
Based on Kushner's quotes, these "embeds" may have been working with Cambridge Anayltica:
“We found that Facebook and digital targeting were the most effective ways to reach the audiences. After the primary, we started ramping up because we knew that doing a national campaign is different than doing a primary campaign. That was when we formalized the system because we had to ramp up for digital fundraising. We brought in Cambridge Analytica. I called some of my friends from Silicon Valley who were some of the best digital marketers in the world. And I asked them how to scale this stuff."
For those who aren't familiar, Cambridge Analytica was communicating with Julian Assange about Hillary Clinton's and DNC's stolen emails. So was Don Jr. Michael Flynn, who pled guilty to lying to the FBI, also had an advisory role at Cambridge Analytica.
https://www.theguardian.com/…/michael-flynn-cambridge-analy…
Zuckerberg admitted there was overlap between Russia ads and the Trump Campaign.
http://www.techheadlines.us/facebook-says-it-found-an-insi…/
Facebook recommended Russian propaganda to users:
https://www.cnbc.com/…/facebook-tells-senate-its-software-r…
Yuri Milner made these investments into Facebook with the help of Jared Kushner's friend and old classmate Ryan Williams. Yuri Milner also invested in Cadre, a company co-founded by Ryan Williams, Jared Kushner, and his brother Josh Kushner. However, Jared Kushner conveniently failed to disclose his ownership of the company. Milner's investment is likely through Gazprom as well.
http://www.newsweek.com/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-white-ho…
https://www.theverge.com/…/mark-zuckerberg-election-fake-ne…
Guess who's friend's with both Mark Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner? Suspected Chinese agent and Vladimir Putin love interest Wendi Deng Murdoch.
Wendi Deng introduced her then husband Rupert Murdoch to Mark Zuckerberg:
https://www.theguardian.com/…/rupert-murdoch-divorce-wendi-…
Yuri Milner and Wendi Deng attended a Time 100 Gala together in New York, April 2016.
http://www.zimbio.com/…/2016+Time+100+Gala+Time…/quud6cf3as-
Here's Wendy Deng with Yuri Milner's wife and Karlie Kloss, who's dating Josh Kushner, Jared Kushner's brother.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…/model-karlie-kloss-with-wife-…/
Wendi Deng also hosted a dinner that included Jared Kushner, Josh Kushner, and Ryan Williams, amongst others.
https://www.vogue.com/…/businesswoman-wendi-murdoch-career-…
Wendi Deng is know as a match-maker to her friends and actually helped reunite Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner after a break up, eventually leading to marriage. Wendi Deng may be the link between Yuri Milner with Zuckerberg, as well as with the Kushners, and Ryan Williams.
Exclusive Video: Mark Zuckerberg And Yuri Milner Talk About Facebook's New Investment
I had a chance to sit down this afternoon with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner, the Founder and CEO of new investor Digital Sky Technologies...social.techcrunch.com