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IGOR BUKHMAN This Russia-Born Billionaire Owns One Of The World’s Largest Game Developers. Amid The Ukraine War, He Navigates A Company In Turmoil Original article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognizant/2022/03/15/its-time-to-turn-climate-promises-into-accountability-and-action-heres-how/ Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | ||
This Russia-Born Billionaire Owns One Of The World’s Largest Game Developers. Amid The Ukraine War, He Navigates A Company In Turmoil
Written by Iain Martin & Jemima McEvoy
Mar 31, 2022, 06:30am EDT
LEVON BISS FOR FORBES
Igor Bukhman, the billionaire cofounder of the gaming giant Playrix, has thousands of employees divided between Russia and Ukraine. The war sparked an internal battle at his company and now Bukhman finds himself in the middle.
Igor Bukhman awoke on the morning of February 24 in his West London home to a text message from the manager of one of Playrix’s Ukrainian studios: “It’s started,” read the text, which followed with a photo of the manager’s wife cradling a shotgun, and their daughter sheltering in their basement from Russian airstrikes.
Bukhman flicked on the TV. The invasion was all over it. He skimmed news apps on his phone. “We didn’t really believe it would happen,” says Bukhman, a Russia-born billionaire who has thousands of employees working on mobile games in Russia and Ukraine. While he reeled in shock, his Ukrainian staff swung into action.
igor-bukhman-stripped
Slack channels normally busy with collegial chat, funny memes and updates about the company’s stable of games now thrummed with talk of evacuations and aid donations. “We are not hands-on with everything. They started reacting much faster than we did,” says Bukhman of his 1,500 employees in the war zone. “I knew the main decisions and provided resources, but I believed this would all be over in a few days.”
Igor and his younger brother, Dmitri, who share decision making at the 18-year-old company—games such as Fishdom and Gardenscapes are the source of the pair’s more than $16 billion combined fortune—were soon pacing the historic streets between their residences in the affluent London district of Kensington, hashing out a plan. “We are not a big company,” Bukhman, 40, says. “I mean, we have big revenues, but we are just two people, and we have managers, but they are working on games. We don’t have a plan B.”
Hours into the invasion the brothers put their Ukrainian staff on paid leave. In the next two days they set up hotlines to help employees evacuate, and 48 hours later paid a bonus equivalent to a month’s salary to their entire 4,000-person workforce, including the 1,500 in Russia. Bukhman says the payment reassured staff about the company’s stability and supported not just Ukrainians on the front lines but Russians hit by the collapse of the ruble.
“We won’t be able to continue working the way we worked before, but I think we will be able to continue working in Ukraine.”
But the pair soon found themselves on the back foot again. Even as hundreds of their colleagues scrambled for safety, clashes between Playrix staff broke out on Slack. After a few swapped jokes, a Ukraine-based employee hit back: “It’s probably easy and fun for you. . . . You didn’t wake up at five in the morning to an incredible ‘boom.’ ”
Over the next few days, these spats spun into “outbursts of uncontrolled hatred between employees,” Bukhman says. At first the brothers urged an end to “political” discussions; company moderators then started deleting posts about the war before shutting down the Slack channels entirely. Some employees were furious; at least one quit. “We do not forbid anyone to express their opinion publicly. We only ask that we leave at least a few channels as a space for business communication,” Bukhman told staff in a note. “We are literally between two fires. It’s difficult for us to make decisions, but we must do it.”
Playrix and its billionaire founders are in a tough spot, but they’re hardly alone. Many entrepreneurs turned to Russia and Ukraine in recent years to tap cheap tech talent. Now they find their businesses in a war zone. Grammarly, based in San Francisco but started by two Ukraine-born billionaires, Alex Shevchenko and Max Lytvyn, opened an office with 128 workstations in Kyiv in 2020. Snapchat and Lyft also had offices there, while Amazon-owned Ring employed more than 1,000 contractors in the Ukrainian capital. IPG Photonics, Ubisoft and World of Tanks game developer Wargaming have (or had) significant Moscow outposts.
Many Ukrainian professionals are among the 3.7 million who have fled to neighboring countries, while others, mainly men, have swapped their keyboards for Kalashnikovs. One of the earliest civilians killed was Tatiana Perebeinis, the chief accountant of Palo Alto search optimization startup SE Ranking.
At the same time, tens of thousands of Russian tech workers—who either oppose the war or have found that sanctions and Russian internet restrictions have made it impossible to work—have decamped to Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. Bukhman has no plans to pull out of Russia but says Playrix has already helped around 10% of his 1,500 Russian staff relocate abroad.
Other companies have taken a harder line. JetBrains, the Prague-based company that owns Android’s key coding language and which is run by two Russian billionaires, Sergey Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov, shuttered its Russia offices in March. Staff who won’t move to the Czech Republic or elsewhere will be let go. JetBrains won’t say how many of its 1,900 employees are affected, but last April it announced a 1,000-desk campus expansion in St. Petersburg and had offices in Moscow and Siberia.
Buzzy San Francisco-based workplace collaboration startup Miro, which raised $400 million at a $17.5 billion valuation in January, also closed its Russia office and terminated workers who wouldn’t move. “There’s an exodus of tech companies from Russia because it’s economic suicide to stay, and it’s physically not safe to be there now,” says Mikhail Mizhinsky, managing director of Relocode, a London-based firm that helps Russian startups set up shop in Europe.
Russia is trying to halt the brain drain with a new tax break that exempts tech companies and their workers from income tax for three years. The government is also promising that tech workers will be exempt from any military draft. But as sanctions ramp up and air routes out of Russia close, it probably isn’t enough to convince anyone to stay.
The war hits very close to home for some, such as Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, the billionaire cofounders of British digital bank Revolut, which at a recent $33 billion is one of the world’s most valuable startups. Storonsky’s father was born in Ukraine; he grew up in Russia but left at age 20 and is now 37 and a British citizen. Yatsenko, who called Vladimir Putin “one of the most brazen liars in history” the day the war broke out, hails from the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, now largely destroyed by Russian artillery.
“When I was growing up, the notion of war between Russia and Ukraine was unthinkable. Not just because war and the loss of innocent lives is always wrong, but because to me, Ukrainians and Russians are kin,” wrote Storonsky in a blog post on March 1 that condemned the war but stopped short of criticizing Russia itself. He led an appeal that raised $11 million from his customers for Ukrainian Red Cross. Revolut, which at the start of the conflict had around 50 employees in Ukraine and a small number in Russia, kicked in another $2 million.
Fifteen hundred miles from Kyiv, Playrix’s discreet offices in a business park in Dublin’s suburbs lie nearly deserted while outside the Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Bukhman snaps down the boardroom’s blinds to dim the sun streaming over the craggy Dublin Mountains. “Some of us work on the Russian calendar,” he says with a shrug.
Playrix has billed itself as an international company, albeit a mostly Russian-speaking one, since the brothers moved it to safe (and low-tax) Dublin in 2013. The company’s comfortably plush offices now nestle among neighbors like Microsoft Ireland. It’s a world away from Playrix’s origins in the bedroom the Bukhman brothers shared growing up in Vologda, a small Russian city some 300 miles northeast of Moscow.
Their father, who trained as a veterinarian but worked as a security guard, and their mother, who was a hiring manager at the city’s big employer, a ball bearing factory, struggled to make ends meet, Bukhman says. “We always had food, but by the end of the month there was no money.”
Growing up in one of the few Jewish families in the remote city, which even Russians know mainly from an eponymous Soviet-era pop song, left Bukhman feeling like something of an outsider. “In a way I didn’t feel Russian,” he says. “It was hard for me to say publicly that I was Jewish even though we never personally faced any kind of direct anti-Semitism, but we heard from our parents and grandparents that you should be careful.”
Bukhman started coding in 2001 while studying applied mathematics at his hometown’s university after a professor mentioned that there was money to be made writing shareware. Igor recruited his younger brother, Dmitri, who was still in high school, to start building games and screen savers. They worked on a Pentium 100-powered computer given to them by their grandfather. “We clearly didn’t have enough money to buy a computer ourselves,” he says. “When we started making money, one of our first purchases was another computer, which doubled our productivity.”
The brothers formally established Playrix in 2004 and started hiring developers and artists in their hometown. The company graduated from making simple puzzle games for home computers to building Facebook-powered social games to compete with Zynga’s then popular Farmville before finally settling on free-to-play apps in 2009. Along the way they made several acquisitions of stand-alone game studios in Ukraine.
Playrix’s games, like puzzler Homescapes and city builder Township, are stalwarts on App Annie’s list of top downloads. Playrix’s games are free, but players pay an average of $5 a month in “microtransactions” of a few dollars each to unlock new levels or otherwise upgrade. The majority of Playrix’s $2.7 billion in revenue stems from players in America, but the games also do well in China.
Microtransactions helped the brothers bootstrap the business without taking any outside investment. They had long yearned to move away from their hometown, but the situation became urgent a decade ago, when Russian police appeared at their office with questions about their finances. Turns out they’d been sold land by someone who didn’t own it. “It’s not even about the money. I lost my belief in the system and the feeling that we could be safe,” Bukhman says.
He and Dmitri immigrated to Israel in 2016. The brothers then moved to London in 2020. Like several other Russia-born billionaires, they asked Forbes to be listed as Israeli rather than Russian for the Billionaires rankings. In instances where they had long since relocated, we agreed.
Playrix boomed during the pandemic, with revenue jumping 53% thanks to savvy marketing that hoovered up players stuck at home. It’s now the world’s fourth-largest mobile gaming company (by revenue) behind China’s Tencent, NetEase and Activision. The net worth of the Bukhman brothers, who together own 96% of the company, has more than doubled since 2020.
But years of rapid growth from the remove of Dublin were poor preparation for the current crisis. Young, lean tech companies don’t typically spend much time making geopolitical contingency plans. Still, some startups had quietly been planning for the worst. Among the best prepared were those with roots in conflict-ridden countries. Tel Aviv-based website builder Wix began moving key Ukrainian staff to Poland in January. As tensions mounted in February, it made the extraordinary offer to pay its entire 1,000 Ukrainian staff to move with their families temporarily to Turkey. When Russian troops invaded, a fleet of buses chartered by Wix swept the rest to relative safety in western Ukraine. Israeli freelance marketplace Fiverr, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, also had a plan in place by late January to evacuate Kyiv-based staff out of Ukraine or help those who stayed.
Many Israeli startups have deep ties to Ukraine thanks to decades of Jewish emigration from the former Soviet Union, and their emergency plans were well rehearsed. “Let’s say we are used to having contingency plans,” says Marian Cohen, CEO of Israeli High-Tech Association, a lobby group.
While few were as prepared as those businesses, some were quick to step up. Executives at Revolut denounced the war quickly and publicly, and the company sprang into action, helping evacuate staff and cutting off Russian accounts. By mid-March, it was waiving fees on transfers to Ukrainian bank accounts and lessened identity checks for new customers who might have fled without passports or other essential documents. Snap suspended ad sales in Russia within a week of the invasion, helped evacuate 300 Kyiv-based staffers (who had largely built the AI technology that powers the apps’ selfie filters) and donated $15 million in aid to Ukraine.
The Bukhmans’ public position has evolved significantly since the start of the war. When Dmitri first addressed employees after the invasion on February 24, he declared Playrix “apolitical.” Four days later, as they announced the additional paychecks for their employees, the brothers in a public Facebook post declared the war a “great tragedy for everyone, including our company.” They called for it to end, making them some of the first Russian billionaires to speak out against the invasion, writing that “violence can never be the solution to a problem.”
That wasn’t enough for some Playrix employees, who blasted the statement as too little and too late. “For five days, Playrix didn’t even call what was happening a war,” says one Ukrainian employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I am very angry that the company does not want to call a spade a spade.”
Though it was intended as a peacekeeping move, the purging of the Slack channels only escalated staff frustrations. For many Ukrainian employees, Slack was the only means of contact with colleagues in Russia and Ireland.
A Playrix producer who has remained in his hometown, Kharkiv, despite constant Russian bombing, says he was “shaking with anger” as he watched the company delete posts from Ukrainian employees. He could understand why Playrix would want to limit testy political discussion, “but it’s one thing when it’s a political opinion, quite another when it’s a war,” says the producer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions. He eventually quit Playrix in protest.
Others have signaled plans to follow. One longtime employee of Playrix who chose to stay in Ukraine through the war says she has decided to leave as soon as it’s over. “The company’s position became clear: ‘We’ll get you out of the country, but if anybody wants to stay and help or fight for their freedom, don’t expect any help.’”
Internally, the founders have acknowledged feedback from employees that they should take a stronger public stance. “On social networks, [Dmitri] and I expressed our support for Ukraine in the words we could use,” Igor wrote to employees on March 4. “But we have 16 offices and 1,500 employees in Russia. . . . We cannot take an open position now because we have a responsibility to our employees and families.”
Draconian Russian laws now criminalize even describing the invasion as a war and threaten Russian citizens with treason charges if they provide “material help” to Ukraine. At the start of the conflict, these concerns weighed heavily. Playrix now seems more confident in its position. After initially discouraging employees from donating to Ukrainian causes and fretting internally about giving extra checks to staffers in the war zone, Playrix announced on March 11 that it would donate $500,000 to Ukrainian Red Cross, following in Revolut’s footsteps. One mass Slack channel has been reopened and the rules have been relaxed.
Things remain far from perfect. Bukhman, who still has many longtime employees deep inside Russia, expects more workers to quit. His managers are even working to devise ways to minimize how much Ukrainians have to interact with Russian speakers, including Bukhman himself. It is not a recipe for harmony, but perhaps harmony is too much to ask for. “We won’t be able to continue working the way we worked before,” Bukhman says, “but I think we will be able to continue working in Ukraine.”
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Iain Martin
Iain Martin
I joined Forbes as the Europe News Editor and will be working with the London newsroom to define our coverage of emerging businesses and leaders across the UK and Europe. Prior to joining Forbes, I worked for the news agency Storyful as its Asia Editor working from its Hong Kong bureau, and as a Senior Editor in London, where I reported on breaking news stories from around the world, with a special focus on how misinformation and disinformation spreads on social media platforms. I started my career in London as a financial journalist with Citywire and my work has appeared in the BBC, Sunday Times, and many more UK publications. Email me story ideas, or tips, to iain.martin@forbes.com, or Twitter @_iainmartin. Read Less
Jemima McEvoy
Jemima McEvoy
I’m a wealth reporter covering the world’s richest people for Forbes. I was previously a reporter on Forbes’ breaking news desk, and have also done stints at CBS News and Inc. Magazine. My accent is confused as I was born and raised in England, but have spent years living in New York and Chicago. I graduated New York University with a degree in politics and economics in May 2020.
You can reach me via email here: jmcevoy@forbes.com
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INNOVATION
It’s Time To Turn Climate Promises Into Accountability And Action. Here’s How.
Cognizant
Sophia MendelsohnBrand Contributor
CognizantBRANDVOICE| Paid Program
Mar 15, 2022,11:00am EDT
Here are some of the most impactful actions and investments businesses can make to reduce their environmental impact, reveals Sophia Mendelsohn, Cognizant’s Chief Sustainability Officer.
Climate Pledge
Climate Promises to Accountability COGNIZANT
It’s long been assumed corporate climate response would take a backseat during times of global recession or tragic loss of life, as we are seeing today. But the pattern is clear — there’s no separating the climate crisis from the human reality in which we all live.
Even through these extraordinary times, companies can continue the quest to deliver alternative market-based solutions and advance climate and equity.
As net zero commitments (which promise to eliminate or offset all greenhouse gas emissions across operations and supply chains) took hold in the corporate world, companies with large carbon footprints — such as airlines and manufacturers — led the way or at least caught the first limelight. Now, with those industries firmly aware of the need for corporate climate action, it’s time for companies with smaller carbon footprints to lead.
An array of actions companies can take
Every company should determine which levers will have the greatest impact within the construct of its current ecosystem. At Cognizant, we assessed several investments and opportunities to help us reach our own net zero goals. The areas companies should consider include, but are not limited to, the following:
Renewable energy: Assess where your energy consumption is highest and target areas for investment in renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy. At Cognizant, we continue to build our reliance on renewable energy, particularly in India where we have a large footprint.
Green buildings: In buildings you lease or own, conduct an energy assessment to understand where it would make sense to implement more sustainable heating and cooling systems, as well as eco-friendly lighting options. In our recent research, 63% of respondents said they’re investing in eco-friendly lighting. Businesses can also consider the use of AI and analytics platforms to streamline and increase the value of their energy audits.
Green IT: Consider leveraging low-power electronics and migrating your data to the cloud. While estimates vary, research indicates nearly 80% energy savings from running business applications in the cloud vs. in on-premises infrastructure.
Suppliers: Work with your suppliers, encouraging them to establish their own measurable sustainability goals. Conduct business with likeminded companies that share your values.
Travel reduction: If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that remote work enabled by the right technology is often possible, and sometimes more productive and impactful.
Offsets: Offsets can reduce carbon emissions in one place to compensate for the release of emissions in another. When done through legitimate, verifiable and permanent projects, companies can audit and verify carbon offsets to make sure they result in real global reductions where local ones are not commercially possible. In our own net zero goals, we are looking to offset no more than 10% of our carbon footprint by 2040.
Coalitions. Addressing the most critical climate challenges will require collaboration and join action among organizations. We’ve joined forces with The Climate Pledge, co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism, whose goal is to reach net-zero carbon by 2040 and meet The Paris Agreement 10 years early. Signatories to the pledge share access to technologies, best practices and innovations in supply chain enhancements.
Leveraging tech to solve the world’s greatest problem
Technological advancements will play an integral role in making businesses more sustainable. We’re seeing businesses apply technologies to reduce a range of environmental impacts within their daily operations.
For example, we worked with a global shipping company to establish a data platform that analyzes more than 1,000 sensor inputs from 75+ vessels in real-time. Using these insights, the business reduced fuel consumption by continuously optimizing vessel speed and position. The company’s data strategy and modern cloud-based data platform support intelligent, automated and data-driven processes. Steered by advanced analytics and machine-learning models, these processes enable the shipper to compile comprehensive decarbonization reports.
We’re also enabling a global pharmaceutical organization to reduce energy and water consumption through data and analytics tools that allow the company to clearly view the status of water, steam and electricity use. These insights allow them to clearly see energy-savings opportunities.
The opportunities to improve sustainability extend across industries and the world: We’re helping a utility company generate renewable energy through smart meters, a farming company improve crop yield through data management, a US healthcare payer enroll members via a process that eliminates paper. These are just some of the ways businesses can leverage technology to create a more efficient and carbon-friendly world.
Individual efforts matter
Lastly, but certainly not least, we cannot ignore the collective power within large companies. Cognizant is 330,000+ people strong across the globe — that’s more people than some cities. Companies have the obligation to seize the opportunity to create a community of knowledgeable citizens. Some things to consider include:
Eco-trainings that educate employees on simple steps that can make big differences
Friendly competitions and challenges within the company to encourage eco-friendly behaviors
Outreach and volunteer efforts that help bring your expertise to underserved areas
Not only will these collective efforts impact our environment, but they will also enhance company culture. These simple steps will empower employees with the tools and know-how to help the companies they work for generate meaningful corporate change.
To learn more visit the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) section of our website or contact us.
Sophia Mendelsohn
Sophia Mendelsohn
Sophia Mendelsohn is Cognizant’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Global Head of Environmental Social Governance (ESG). Sophia is responsible for leading the... Read More
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