Shares in Yandex, which were sold for $25 (16 pounds) a piece on Wall Street, soared more than 40pc in their first day of trading on Tuesday on the Nasdaq, valuing the company at $8bn.
Yandex, which was founded by two technologists who met at school, currently enjoys a 65pc share of the search market in Russia but faces tough competition from Google. Online advertising revenues in Russia jumped 51pc in the last two years, according to the Association of Communication Agencies, which is based in Moscow.
"Russia deserves to have a technology company of a global level," said Arkady Volozh, co-founder and chief executive. "We're working toward that happening."
Well done Alexei! All your hard work paid off in the end.
