What is Mail.Ru? How did Mail.Ru develop?

What is Mail.Ru?

Mail.Ru Group, ООО (commonly referred to as Mail.Ru) is a Russian Internet company. It started as an email service in 1998 and went on to become a large corporate figure in the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet. As of 2013 according to comScore, the websites owned by Mail.ru collectively had the largest audience in Russia and captured the most screen time.

Mail.Ru mainly focuses on the Russian Internet market and is committed to operating a comprehensive communication and entertainment platform. It owns Mail.Ru, one of Russia's leading email services and the largest Internet portals in Russia, the two largest Russian social networks VKontakte (VK) and Odnoklassniki (OK), the offline mobile map and navigation service MAPS.ME based on OpenStreetMap, the instant messaging service (ICQ), the online learning platform GeekBrains for developers, and the mobile location-based online trading platform Youla. In addition, it also owns 100% of the shares of Pixonic, a mobile game developer, and 100% of the shares of DeliveryClub, Russia's number one food delivery company.

What is the development history of Mail.Ru?

In November 2010, Mail.Ru issued global depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange.

In November 2011, it became the first Russian Internet company to successfully list in London.

In February 2012, Mail.ru launched its microblogging service.

In September 2014, Mail.Ru acquired all remaining shares of Vkontakte for $1.47 billion.

In 2014, Paul Durov resigned as CEO of VKontakte and founded Telegram with Nikolai Durov.

In 2016, the revenue was 42.751 billion rubles (about US$740 million), an increase of 15% over the previous year, of which online advertising revenue was 18.442 billion rubles, an increase of 26% over the previous year.

In February 2017, Russian telecommunications group MegaFon acquired a 63.8% stake in Mail.Ru for $740 million.

In 2018, RFPI (Russian Direct Investment Fund), Alibaba Group, Mail.Ru Group and MegaFon mobile operator announced the creation of a joint venture in which Alibaba will hold a 48% stake and Mail.Ru Group will hold a 15% stake.

In 2018, Russian Internet giant Mail.Ru recently announced that it would acquire the well-known e-sports company ESforce for more than $100 million.

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