Early Life and Education
Arkady Volozh was born in Guryev, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Atyrau, Kazakhstan) on February 11, 1964. He came from a Russian-Jewish family. Volozh attended the Republican School of Physics and Mathematics in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He graduated from Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas in 1986 with a degree in applied mathematics. He also has a Ph.D. from the Institute of Control Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, earned in 1988.
Rise to Success
Volozh's entrepreneurial journey began in 1989 when he started working on search technology. In 1990, he established Arkadia Company, which developed search software. A pivotal moment came in 1997 when he co-founded Yandex with Ilya Segalovich. Yandex quickly grew to dominate the Russian internet search market. Volozh served as Yandex's CEO from 2000 until June 2022, when he stepped down after being sanctioned by the EU due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Key Business Strategies
Volozh's success is attributed to several key strategies. He developed search technology tailored for the Russian language and Cyrillic alphabet, a significant factor in Yandex's dominance in Russia. Under his leadership, Yandex expanded into various internet services, including online advertising, e-commerce, and cloud computing. The successful IPO of Yandex on NASDAQ in 2011 was a major achievement. His focus on innovation and adapting to the local market allowed Yandex to compete effectively with global giants.
Philanthropy
Volozh's philanthropic efforts include the establishment of the Yandex School of Data Analysis in 2007, a free Master's level program in computer science and data analysis. This initiative contributed to tech education in Russia.
