I have been digging into this article on #JimBreyer who is the brother-in-law of #MitchMcConnell, reading all the articles it contains and links to, and doing my own research. It is mind-bending. I recommend highly everyone take a pause and read it twice! https://www.reddit.com/r/RussiaLago/comments/a34y7i/mitch_mcconnells_brotherinlaw_one_of_the/
"In 2005 Jim Breyer, a partner at Accel Partners, invested $1 million of his own money into Facebook and gained a seat on the board." http://fortune.com/2011/01/11/timeline-where-facebook-got-its-funding/
"In Feb 2009 Jim Breyer visited Russia with a number of other Silicone Valley investors. While there, Yuri Milner, a Russian tech entrepreneur who founded DST with close ties to the Kremlin, hosted a dinner to cap the entire event." http://fortune.com/2010/10/04/facebooks-friend-in-russia/
Mr Milner dismissed suggestions that at a valuation of $10bn he overpaid for his stake in Facebook, especially given that the social networking site has yet to prove it has turned to profit. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/7753692/Facebook-is-just-the-first-step-say-Russians.html
"It’s seen as a desperate and rather vulgar deal on the one hand—Milner buying a small stake in Facebook, valuing the entire company at $10 billion—and, on the other, Facebook debasing itself by taking Russian money. Russian money! https://www.wired.com/2011/10/mf_milner/
"In fact, it seems rather like a desperate deal for both parties (in the midst of the banking crisis, Facebook has only two other bidders for this round—and none from the top VC tier)" https://www.wired.com/2011/10/mf_milner/
"By the end of 2009, DST would own 10% of Facebook. Later revealed by the Paradise Papers, DST’s investments into Facebook were financed by the Russian government through state-owned Gazprom. That’s right, in 2009 Russia owned 10% of Facebook." https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/05/russia-funded-facebook-twitter-investments-kushner-investor
"Soon after, the two continued to work together on other investments. Breyer introduced Milner to Groupon, and Milner helped Breyer’s Accel invest into Spotify." https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/dst-global-hoping-to-grow-across-asia-puts-down-roots/
"In 2010 an Accel representative joined a gaggle of Silicon Valley investors to Russia and signed a letter promising to invest into the country." http://www.ambarclub.org/executive-education/
"Then in Nov 2010 Jim Breyer invested into Artsy, run by Rupert Murdoch’s then-wife, Wendi Deng, and Russia oligarch Roman Abramovich’s then-wife, Dasha Zhukova. Jared Kushner’s brother, Josh, also invested in the fledgling company." https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-cadre-and-how-to-invest-in-its-real-estate-deals-2016-6
"At the time Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation had a joint venture with the Russian mob-linked oligarch Boris Berezovsky, called LogoVaz News Corporation, that invested in Russian media." https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/companies/156126Z:RU-logovaz-news-corp
"It was Berezovsky’s protege Roman Abramovich who tied Berezovsky to the mob." https://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2012/11/roman-abramovich-boris-berezovsky-feud-russia
"A paramedic, John Pocock, told the hearing that after being called to the house and finding Berezovsky on the bathroom floor, a "warning tone" was triggered on a radiation detection device that he was carrying." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/26/boris-berezovsky-inquest-spoke-suicide-roman-abramovich
"According to the Mirror Online, Abramovich paid Berezovsky tens, and even hundreds, of millions every year for "krysha", or mafia protection." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich
"In June 2011, Rupert Murdoch ended his foray into social media by selling Myspace to Justin Timberlake and elected Jim Breyer to the board of News Corp." https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904583204576546420865980328
"Jim Breyer invests in Wickr with Erik Prince" https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/14/why-is-erik-prince-backing-a-secure-communications-company/
"In 2012 Breyer invested in a encrypted messenger app, Wickr. Other investors include Gilman Louie and Erik Prince. To understand the connection, we need to go back to 1987." https://www.alsop-louie.com/team/gilman-louie/
"Breyer, newly hired to Accel Partners, made his first investment with Louie’s video game company that owned the rights to the Soviet Union’s first video game export, Tetris." https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/CIA-Asks-Silicon-Valley-s-Help-Executive-to-2904775.php
"Louie went off to become the founding CEO of the CIA-backed In-Q-Tel which invested in Palantir." https://www.gaia.com/article/what-is-cia-in-q-tel
"Palantir’s founder, Peter Thiel, sat on the board of Facebook with Breyer." https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-palantir-peter-thiel/
"On the board of In-Q-Tel is Buzzy Krongard. Buzzy Krongard is the man who helped Erik Prince’s Blackwater receive their first CIA contract, who also joined the board of Blackwater in 2007." https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/us/17brothers.html
"Around that same time, 2012-2013, Prince met Vincent Tchenguiz, founder of Cambridge Analytica's parent company, SCL." https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/revealed-erik-prince-had-business-ties-with-netanyahus-disgraced-chief-of-staff-1.5627887
"Prince met Vincent Tchenguiz, founder of Cambridge Analytica's parent company, and was introduced to Cyrus Behbehani of Glencore, one of the purchasers of Rosneft stock detailed in the Steele Dossier." https://medium.com/@wsiegelman/a-fresh-look-at-erik-princes-house-intelligence-committee-testimony-and-emails-with-christophe-6603f06c6568
Cyrus Behbehani sat on the board of RusAl with Christophe Charlier, who is also Chairman of the board at Renaissance Capital, an early investor of DST. https://www.vccircle.com/all-you-wanted-know-about-digital-sky-technologies/