MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti) - Ilya Segalovich, who co-founded search engine Yandex, one of Russia’s most successful companies, died on Saturday, Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh said on Sunday.
Doctors registered Sigalovich’s brain death on Thursday and put him on life support, Volozh wrote in his blog.
“Yesterday, all the hopes came to an end. Even Ilya’s strong body could not withstand it. Doctors disconnected him [from the life support system] yesterday in the afternoon and his heart stopped,” Volozh said.
Yandex announced on Thursday that Segalovich, 48, had passed away unexpectedly from complications arising from his treatment for cancer but Volozh made a statement later in the day that the Yandex co-founder was in coma.
"We want to clarify an earlier statement that the company put out. We have since learnt that Ilya is in coma and on life support although not showing any brain function. Our thoughts are with him at this time," Volozh said, Reuters reported.
Segalovich's Twitter feed reveals that he was active and mobile as recently as last week - several tweets show that he was eager to take part in street demonstrations in Moscow to protest the five-year prison sentence handed down to opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but was unable to attend because he was traveling outside the country.
Yandex is today the most popular search engine in Russia, ahead of international giant Google. In 2011 the company raised $1.4 billion in New York during an oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO). The fierce demand for the stock made it one of the most successful foreign listings ever by a Russian company. Today Yandex is valued at about $10 billion.
In 2011 the company raised $1.4 billion in New York during an oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO). The fierce demand for the stock made it one of the most successful foreign listings ever by a Russian company. Today Yandex is valued at about $10 billion.
