He Turned Down Facebook at a $9B Valuation | Part 1: Chris Barter

In this episode of Ticker Talk, we’re joined by Chris Barter, Co Founder and Partner at King River Capital, for a conversation that spans Cold War Germany, Goldman Sachs in Moscow, Facebook’s $9B valuation and the future of AI.

Chris shares his unconventional path from studying physics at Brown and pursuing a PhD at Harvard to joining Goldman Sachs after the Cold War reshaped research funding.

That journey took him to Frankfurt, London, and ultimately Moscow, where he helped build Goldman’s Russian business and invested $1 billion through its Special Situations group.

We unpack the Mail.ru investment that led to a front-row seat to Facebook at a $9B valuation, the geopolitical realities of operating in Russia, and why Chris believed early on that Putin’s return wouldn’t end well.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro

00:51 – From physics to Goldman Sachs

04:28 – Growing up during the Cold War

11:24 – Moving to Moscow and building Goldman’s Russia business

16:02 – Mail.ru, Yuri Milner, and the Facebook opportunity

19:12 – Facebook at $9B

21:22 – What came next

Connect with King River Capital: https://kingriver.co/

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