History VK (social networking)

1 history

1.1 2006–2008: launch , rapid growth
1.2 2009–2012: public access
1.3 2013–2014: share changes, ipo cancellation, mail.ru group ownership

history

number of registered users on vkontakte between 2006 , 2012



pavel durov, founder of vkontakte, on 26th birthday, 10 october 2010.


2006–2008: launch , rapid growth

vkontakte incorporated on 19 january 2007 russian limited liability company. founder pavel durov launched vkontakte beta testing in september 2006, having graduated st petersburg state university. following month, domain name vkontakte.ru registered. user registration limited within university circles exclusively invitation, site still grew quickly.

in february 2007 site reached user base of on 100,000 , recognized second largest player in russia s nascent social network market. in same month, site subjected severe ddos attack, briefly put offline. user base reached 1 million in july 2007, , 10 million in april 2008. in december 2008 vk overtook rival odnoklassniki russia s popular social networking service.

2009–2012: public access

founder , ceo pavel durov owned 20% of shares (although had majority voting power through proxy votes), , trio of russian-israeli investors, vyacheslav mirilashvili (mikhael mirilashvili s son) , lev leviev, owned 60%, 10%, , 10% respectively. original founders sold stake of 39.99% mail.ru group (formerly digital sky technologies).

on 29 may 2012 mail.ru group announced has decided yield control of company durov offering him voting rights on shares. combined durov s personal 12% stake, gave him 52% of votes. in april 2013, united capital partners bought 48% of vk shares vyacheslav mirilashvili , lev leviev $1.12 billion.

2013–2014: share changes, ipo cancellation, mail.ru group ownership

in 2013, mirilashvili family sold 40% share in vk united capital partners $1.12 billion, while lev leviev sold 8% share in same deal, giving united capital partners 48% ownership. in january 2014, vk s founder pavel durov sold 12% stake in company ceo of megafon, controlled alisher usmanov. following deal, usmanov , allies controlled around 52% of company. shortly thereafter, ceo of megafon, sold 12% stake mail.ru, allowing mail.ru consolidate controlling stake of 52% in vk.

in 2014, pavel durov sold 12% stake ivan tavrin, ceo of russian mobile phone operator megafon. in april 2014, durov stated had sold stake in company after coming under increasing pressure federal law enforcement hand on personal details of users members of vk group dedicated euromaidan protest movement. vk canceled ipo plans after conditions after facebook s ipo, saw failure.

on april 1, 2014, durov submitted resignation board; @ first, due fact company confirmed had resigned, believed related ukrainian crisis started in february of same year. however, durov himself claimed april fool s joke on april 3, 2014. on april 21, 2014, durov dismissed ceo, claiming failed withdraw letter of resignation month earlier. durov claimed company had been taken on vladimir putin s political faction, suggesting dismissal result of both refusal hand on personal details of users federal law enforcement , refusal hand on personal details of people members of vkontakte group dedicated euromaidan protest movement. durov left russia , stated had no plans go , country incompatible internet business @ moment .

on september 16, 2014, mail.ru group bought remaining 48% stake of vk united capital partners (ucp) $1.5 billion, becoming sole proprietor of social network.

in may 2017, ukrainian president petro poroshenko signed decree impose ban on mail.ru , used social networks including vkontakte , odnoklassniki part of continued sanctions on russia annexation of crimea , involvement in war in donbass. reporters without borders condemned ban, calling disproportionate measure undermines ukrainian people’s right information , freedom of expression. vk closed office in ukraine s capital kiev mid-june 2017.