“Natalia, you are very famous person, winner of many awards, heroine of ratings and reviews. How do you feel about this?
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
They don't always write what really is. But the last reward was very pleasant. No. 1 in the “TOP 1000 Managers” rating in the IT category according to Kommersant Publishing House and the Russian Managers Association. And this is entirely recognition of the achievements of the InfoWatch company.
“Have you completely stopped associating yourself with Kaspersky Lab?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
It’s been three years now that I haven’t been following the “Laboratory” at all. At first, I was very upset about parting with the company, but when I sold the shares, I somehow immediately let go.
“Did your separation from business coincide with personal changes?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
If you mean divorce, then these events are separated by ten years. I have been divorced from Evgeniy since 1998, and my final exit from the business took place in 2011. Before that, we maintained normal business partnerships.
When we were just creating the business, I did not insist on a significant share of my own, then it seemed to me unimportant. Zhenya offered me only 10%, and I agreed, since between us we had 60%. But in the event of a divorce, I would have to insist on receiving my legal half, which I did not do. Then I regretted...
In general, the Laboratory was a huge part of my life for 13 years. Not surprisingly, when my role in it suddenly changed, it was a tragedy.
“How did InfoWatch come about?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
I chose a complex, unprofitable project at that time. Acquired its controlling stake from the Laboratory in exchange for future investments. And now I’ve been developing for 6 years.
We have always been lucky in developing the Laboratory’s business. The market was constantly growing, we found ourselves in the right place at the right time. And InfoWatch faced many challenges and had to solve various problems. At first we had to educate the market, but it still didn’t buy. Clients did not understand why protection against information leaks was needed and did not want to buy our systems. Then it was necessary to overcome the consequences of the financial crisis. Over the course of several years of operation, in 2012, InfoWatch achieved positive growth for the first time; growth reached 75%, and this year it will also be significant. But, in any case, it is not a rapid that carries, but rather a constant struggle with whirlpools, riffles, shoals, and so on.
“What makes you not give up, believe, continue?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Probably innate stubbornness.
I was lucky to once build a business, choose the right people for the team. But in the second business (InfoWatch), all my experience, knowledge and connections were not very applicable. In addition to expertise in selecting people. After much effort, we have a wonderful team! Everything else had to be learned again, new experience gained.
“What is the fundamental difference between the two businesses?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
InfoWatch solutions, unlike Laboratory products, require serious collaboration with the customer and personal communication. These are products for large corporations, and not for small businesses, and especially retail, like Lab. The approaches to retail and corporate business are very different. For example, a completely different sales channel, a longer sales cycle, obvious seasonality, etc....
“International expansion helped you a lot in the growth of the Laboratory. What are InfoWatch’s plans?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Now the InfoWatch business is actively developing in Russia, is at an early stage of development in the Middle East, and we are preparing to enter the Asian market. Such client-oriented work is difficult to do remotely; it is imperative to hire people in the region. The birth of children limited flights. Now my youngest daughter has grown up a little, I’m catching up.
“Who are the children with without you?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
We have two nannies who work in shifts. But they don’t live with us, because... both Muscovites, with their own housing. I traditionally looked for them through an agency.
“What requirements do you place on a nanny?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
To love children first. And naturally, I would be involved in their development. Although I don’t have high hopes for nannies in terms of education, I send my children to sports clubs and clubs.
“Is your children’s life organized according to your scenario?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
The three youngest are still too young to choose anything on their own. And I no longer give advice to the older two. They are adults, because I have two daughters-in-law. They live separately, we don’t see each other every day.
“Your youngest is only a year old. At 46 years old, becoming a mother for the fifth time is probably especially responsible. Were you worried? Didn’t the birth take place in Russia?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
In Moscow - and where else! I am working! I went on maternity leave a week before giving birth, and two hours later I was already working, answering letters.
I gave birth in the 72nd maternity hospital, because it’s close to home. I’m generally an unpretentious person, but I liked it there – all the service was top class.
“All sorts of modern births are fashionable now. Partnerships, with the presence of a husband, for example. How do you feel about this?
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Have you ever seen my husband? (laughs).
“Tell me how you and Igor met?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
We met him twice. The first time was in 1996 at the CEBIT exhibition in Hannover. We were simply introduced to each other. And at first we didn’t like each other at all.
And the second time - exactly a year later, there, in Germany, at the same exhibition. We ended up together at the same stand, organized by the Ministry of Science, which then provided the opportunity to exhibit to young Russian companies. I represented the newborn Kaspersky Lab, and Igor represented his then company Medialingua. All stand participants traveled together - by plane to Berlin, and then by bus to Hannover. This is about four hours travel. Behind me, two men were talking very intelligently and thoughtfully about history. And all the time I tried to see from behind my high back who was so smart there. Igor was just one of them.
Igor is the kind of person who has an amazing ability to sort out any information. Combined with his oratorical abilities, this leads to the fact that a crowd of listeners always gathers around him, whom he educates on some issues. I would call this an innate ability to teach. Then at the exhibition we began to communicate on professional topics. My business was growing rapidly, but knowledge and understanding were lacking. Igor helped me a lot with this “sorting things out.” We started dating seriously two or three years later, after my divorce from Evgeniy.
“What attracted you to Ashmanov?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Igor is a very integral person. Even though he a famous person and a businessman, he is constantly interviewed and invited to television shows, but publicity does not spoil him. We have been together for more than ten years, I do not notice any radical changes in him. Igor is smart enough to always have feedback from the world.
He is an engineer, technologist, extremely deeply versed in many areas, he came up with and began to develop many of his technologies himself. I'm more of a salesperson, an entrepreneur, and I like to focus on business rather than development. Just two different complementary approaches.
We are both CEOs of our own businesses. And this is actually a very lonely role. As one American friend of mine said, “CEO is the lonely job.” In this position, you have no one to consult with - you won’t consult with your subordinates, and your partners don’t always understand or can help. Therefore, our communication with Igor just began with such a mutual exchange - I told him about building sales channels, and he told me about his developments, and also helped me sort things out.
“You are both successful people. Is there any rivalry between you?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
There is no point in competing with Igor. There is obvious superiority behind him (laughs)..
But seriously, we successfully complement each other, being experts in different things. It is very comfortable.
“You have three children together. In one of your interviews, you regretted that you didn’t give birth at the right time. Maybe there are thoughts about opening your own Children's Help Fund?
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
I don't have my own fund. Typically, funds are created by the wives of businessmen or people who are very good at organizing this if they have free time. I don't have free time. It’s easier for me to give money to well-known foundations, to help specific children - for health or education. Therefore, I regularly do charity work, but I don’t see the point in organizing my own foundation.
“Are you helping from yourself or from InfoWatch?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Personally. Until recently, InfoWatch could not yet afford such an expense item.
“You and Igor also have common businesses - Kribrum, Nanosemantics. Have you ever thought about merging everything into one corporation?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Kribrum technologies (social media monitoring) are used in Infowatch. As for Nanosemantics (it makes virtual interlocutors), this company lies on the sidelines of information security, and I personally invested there because I believe that artificial intelligence someday it will become very big topic.
In general, we both developed our own directions. I have information security, Igor, in his group of companies Ashmanov and Partners, combines several topics at once - artificial intelligence, linguistics, marketing, search technologies, robotics.
I want to continue to focus entirely on the area of information security. One product will complement the other; we are now creating a unified sales system for our holding, a unified administration and management group. We are planning geographic expansion, as well as expanding the product line
“You are accompanied by security. Is Moscow not a safe city?
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Moscow has become much better than in the 90s, when people were shooting in the streets, but worse than in the 70s, when children could be left alone everywhere.
Something bad can happen to anyone. Unfortunately, no one is guaranteed against accidents or even attacks. We live in a large metropolis, so various problems are possible here. Child safety is a separate issue altogether.
“Are you talking about that sad incident with the kidnapping of your son?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Not about that.
I became involved in the topic of child safety thanks to an invitation to a round table, which was organized by Putin and Medvedev on the eve of Mother’s Day in 2011. 12 different women were invited there, including me as a representative of the IT business.
The organizers invited me to cover the topic “Information safety of children on the Internet.” I prepared, I read, and I was horrified. The way children are lured into sects, hooked on drugs, insulted, and bullied. For some children, this attitude can be fatal. I'm not even talking about calls for suicide!
The mildest thing that happens is planting various malware on a child’s computer and siphoning their parents’ money through the children. Unfortunately, parents have little control over this area of their offspring's lives. Modern children are better prepared and sophisticated on the Internet than their parents.
Fortunately, there are initiatives, there are people who are concerned about these issues, and various laws are being adopted. I’m not talking about the “12+” badge—it won’t save anyone. Blacklists, site bans - all these are half-measures, but nothing better has yet been invented. A whole range of measures is needed.
“Can you list what these measures are to improve children’s safety on the Internet?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
In the first place is PR and explanatory work with parents. They need to be educated, told about threats and dangers.
The second stage is training children in information security, starting with kindergarten. You can first give children ideas about existing Internet threats in the form of fairy tales. After all, the fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood is a lesson for children that they should not talk to strangers. Likewise, there should be a fairy tale about the dangers on the Internet.
In third place is legislative activity. Adoption of laws and punitive measures against violators.
And only in last place come technical measures, namely filtration.
“Traditional blitz. What are your favorite brands?
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
I don’t understand and don’t remember clothing brands. I like it - I bought it. I know little about how to build a brand, and therefore I have no respect for them.
I don’t have time for shopping, I don’t buy online either. My shopping means that once every three or four months I end up in some boutique, for example, at the airport, and immediately leave a decent amount there, buy in bulk what I like and fits well.
“And yet, you are wearing a recognizable Chanel jacket.”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Apparently the saleswoman was lucky. She suggested - I put on the jacket, it suited me, and I bought it.
“What would you like to have more time for?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
For children, of course. For a joint vacation. We always relax together.
“Do you sleep on vacation or do you move a lot?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
I sleep for exactly two days, and then I want to run and jump again. I love trampoline and alpine skiing. This is where we have slight differences with Igor. On vacation, he likes to sit at his “machine” - at the computer.
“Are you an Aquarius by horoscope?”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
Yes, but I never believed in the horoscope. I don't see a connection between the stars and my personal life.
It seems to me that a horoscope is a kind of “swindle” for the poor. Some proposals are made that are difficult to challenge, and then they are presented as yours. unique feature or forecast. For example: “Today it is advisable for you to refrain from excessive business contacts.” Is it redundant when there are three meetings or eight? Or when they are not there at all? Everyone will evaluate the forecast the way they want. This is a way to predict without predicting anything...
“Tell me a little about the children, how and why you named them that.”
- Lyudmila Bulavkina
Natalya Kasperskaya:
The eldest son is Maxim. I really liked the name and it seemed rare. I wanted some originality. But when, almost a year later, Maksim and I first went for a walk on the playground, almost all the boys on the playground turned to look at my “Maxim”. Since then, we stopped experimenting and began to choose names based on some other criteria.
For example, Ivan is named after his two grandfathers.
Daughter Alexandra (8 years old) - the name is inspired by the scales in the delivery room. I spent several hours in the prenatal ward, and the furnishings there were sparse, and my eyes were always drawn to the Sasha baby scales. She is Sasha, a boyish character, a winner.
Maria (4 years old) - Sasha gave her the name. So she said: “I want my sister Masha.”
The youngest Varvara (1 year old) was named after Igor’s great-grandmother. Varyushka—that’s what our Masha affectionately calls her.
The “godmother” of Kaspersky Labs, whose anti-virus programs are installed on almost every second computer today, was able to consider the potential of her husband-programmer and the prospects of the IT direction back in 1994. In order to preserve the business, Natalya Kasperskaya hid the divorce for a long time and until 2011 she remained the general director and co-owner of the Laboratory. She was able to build from scratch not only a new family, but also a new business - the InfoWatch group of companies, which allowed her to maintain the status of the most influential specialist in the IT world and become one of the richest women in Russia.
Dossier:
Details
Today it’s hard to figure out whether the success story of Natalya Ivanovna Kasperskaya’s business is a series of coincidences or carefully thought out steps that helped a caring wife and mother of five children become one of the most successful and richest women in Russia.
“Natalia’s biography is very similar to the path to realizing the “American Dream.” She was on maternity leave for several years and went back to work, where in six years she transformed from a modest computer equipment saleswoman into the head of a leading and promising company creating anti-virus programs,” her husband Evgeniy Kaspersky would later say.
And it all started with a frantic desire to help my talented programmer husband. Having felt the taste of entrepreneurship, Natalya insisted in 1997 on opening her own company, which with her light hand received her husband’s surname. And almost independently, having headed Kaspersky Lab, he takes the business to the global level.
Even after a dramatic divorce, an ideological split with her first husband and a difficult division of shares in the business, she found the strength to start all over again .
By investing in the company InfoWatch, which the businesswoman received as a share in the division of the business, Kasperskaya was able to make the company a leader in the IT field.
According to the owner, “at the time of launch in 2003, there was only one name,” and in 2015, according to Forbes, InfoWatch’s revenue exceeded 1 billion rubles.
Today (2017 - author's note) Natalya Kasperskaya is a co-owner of not only the InfoWatch Group of Companies, but also the joint companies with Igor Ashmanov Nanosemantika, Kribrum, the German company G Data Software AG, other high-tech companies, and peasant farming. "Green Lamb" Actively participates in grant, public and government projects. He is a laureate and winner of Russian and international competitions in various business categories. Included in more than 15 ratings of the most influential and successful people, including “The Richest Women of Russia”, according to forbes.ru
Source: Forbes magazine
Childhood and adolescence: activist, athlete and diligent student
Natalya Ivanovna Kasperskaya, nee Shtutser, was born into a typical family of representatives of the “technical intelligentsia.” She became the late and only child of eternally busy engineers who worked in “closed” institutes.
However, her childhood and youth cannot be called standard and boring. An ordinary schoolgirl was unusually active.
“I was involved in social activities and was even a member of the district pioneer headquarters. In general, trips to Pioneer headquarters are one of the most vivid memories of childhood: we were always inventing something there, organizing performances, creating propaganda teams, traveling around the country,” N. Kasperskaya
Her interests also included the standard childhood hobbies of collecting stamps, badges, coins, singing in the school choir and creative activities such as drawing and writing poetry. There was also time for sports, including swimming, cross-country skiing, and professional basketball classes at the Youth Sports School.
Thinking about future profession, was faced with a choice between her dream and the opinion of her parents.
“I even seriously thought about choosing the profession of a veterinarian, but in high school I encountered completely insurmountable problems with chemistry. ...my parents are “techies”...naturally, they advised me to enroll in a technical university,” - N. Kasperskaya
That's why I graduated high school already within the walls of the Moscow Aviation Institute at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. Eventually higher education received from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics of the Moscow Institute of Electronic Engineering, receiving a diploma with honors.
First entrepreneurial experience, or “the stars aligned”
Further fate The future top manager is closely connected with Evgeniy Kaspersky, whom she met in 1987 while vacationing in a KGB sanatorium.
A whirlwind romance with joint joyful holidays, hikes, and kayaking logically ended with a wedding, but it had its sad consequences. Evgeniy - student of the technical faculty High school KGB - was assigned to Chita, where the young wife was ready to go, like a Decembrist.
Thanks to the intervention of his mother-in-law, the Kaspersky family remained in Moscow, and Evgeniy began a career in the Ministry of Defense, where he became acquainted with computer viruses.
Until 1994, the young wife was raising two sons. But he begins to think about finding a job.
“I started doing business solely because of my own weakness. After six years spent at home with my children, I was tired of being confined to four walls. It was already impossible. I deliberately ran away from home. From everyday difficulties,” - N. Kasperskaya
According to the businesswoman herself, one of the main traits of her character was laziness. Therefore, she took the path of least resistance - in 1994 she got a job at the Kami company, where her husband worked at that time. Kaspersky was categorically against such a decision, as if he sensed what family cooperation could lead to. But she definitely decided to be close to her husband.
At first she sold computer accessories, and later software. She managed to climb the career ladder and become the head of the sales department thanks to the promotion and registration of an antivirus product (AVP) developed by her husband.
“It wasn't easy. I didn’t understand computers, I had no idea what sales was, I didn’t have financial and management skills. Of course, mistakes could not be avoided; for example, I tried to sell everything personally, which was wrong... Now I remember with emotion that time: people did not understand why buy software if they could copy everything from their neighbor onto a floppy disk,” - N. Kasperskaya
How Kaspersky Lab was born
After a trip to Hanover and visiting the CeBIT exhibition, she invites her husband to start his own business. Unable to find support, she opened the Data Rescue Center company in 1995. However, the business quickly went bust.
Problems in the seemingly reliable, large and unsinkable company Kama forced Kaspersky to make a choice. And he and his wife agree to become the first in their own business, refusing the offer of an English company, where, despite the fame of the name, they would be second.
The business history of Evgeniy Valentinovich Kaspersky is filled with bright moments and resembles rapidly changing kaleidoscope pictures. But it was his wife who played a special role in him.
Natalya took the main and decisive step at the moment of choosing the name of the company. Taught by her first unsuccessful entrepreneurial experience, she insisted on a sonorous name. Options like “Kasper and Co” evoked comic associations, while the name “Kaspersky Lab” immediately became recognizable in the computer world.
The team of aspiring entrepreneurs consisted mainly of programmers who were absolutely uninterested in administrative work. Therefore, the woman had to take the reins into her own hands.
I got my job through connections, through family connections, simply by marrying a computer genius. Then, however, I had to work hard to turn my brilliant work into a business.
And as a businessman, everything worked out for her. Sales growth in the first years was 300%. The staff expanded from 6 to 600 people, international contracts appeared, and the Laboratory received worldwide recognition.
The leader clearly states the reasons for the startup’s success:
- The company successfully found itself at the origins of a new market, where the Kasperskys were pioneers.
- The idea came at the right time, when the growth in demand was simply incredible.
- The competitors wandered blindly, which put all participants on an equal footing.
In companies, as in people's lives, a lot also depends on luck. If you want, from the location of the stars. You can study some business methods for a long time, try to apply them, but if “the stars don’t align,” it’s unlikely that everything will be easy,” laughs N. Kasperskaya.
However, luck alone was not enough to manage a rapidly growing business. There was a catastrophic lack of knowledge, which pushed the woman to get a second education at the British Open University.
Divorce - failure of hopes or business partnership
The first crack in the relationship appeared immediately after the creation of a joint business. And the wife’s career growth and the spouses’ radically different views on many things played a key role in the Kaspersky breakup, which occurred in 1997.
They officially filed for divorce in 1998, hiding the true situation from others for more than a year.
“Our discrepancy was quite a big blow, ... we risked losing everything, but somehow we were able to hold on, separate the personal from the public, so to speak, from business, separate it,” - N. Kasperskaya
Natalya continues to manage her ex-husband’s business and in 2000 becomes the general director of the company. It was under her that the Laboratory’s turnover grew at a cosmic pace.
An ideological split with Kaspersky led to Natalya’s removal from office in 2007 general director and to complete separation in 2011 after the sale of her remaining shares.
The most influential and authoritative woman in the country in the field information technologies was a co-founder of the famous global company Kaspersky Lab. Natalya Kasperskaya is one of the richest women in Russia and the mother of five children. She currently works as the CEO of the InfoWatch group of companies, which she founded after leaving the IT giant (Kaspersky Lab).
early years
Natalya Ivanovna Kasperskaya (née Shtutser) was born on February 5, 1966 in Moscow. My parents are engineers by profession and worked at one of the closed defense institutes. Father, Ivan Mikhailovich, was in charge of the laboratory. One of her ancestors, great-grandfather Ivan Ivanovich Shtutser, is the author of a popular geography textbook of the 19th century.
During her school years, she was distinguished by increased social activity and enjoyed the respect of her classmates. She was a member of the school Pioneer squad council, then went for a promotion to the district Pioneer headquarters. In high school she was elected as a Komsomol organizer.
An active Komsomol member, she played basketball at a children's and youth sports school for five years. The girl quite seriously wanted to become a veterinarian, but soon she had to give up this dream. Natalia was not very good at studying chemistry. In the eighth grade, her parents decided to transfer her from a regular high school to a school with a physics and mathematics focus at the MAI (Moscow Aviation Institute).
Carier start
After graduating from school, she entered Moscow State University. But based on the results of the entrance exams, she did not pass the competition, missing half a point. I transferred the documents to the Moscow Institute of Electronic Engineering (MIEM), where these grades were enough for admission. Natalya Kasperskaya studied at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics from 1984 to 1989. Graduate work was devoted to mathematical modeling of the cooling process of a nuclear reactor. She later received a bachelor's degree in business from the UK Open University.
After graduating from the institute, Natalya was assigned as a research assistant to the Moscow Central Research and Design Bureau. She worked for only six months, after which she went on maternity leave. Natalya Kasperskaya’s work biography in the field of information technology began in 1994, when she was 28 years old. The young woman was hired as a software salesperson in a new store, which was opened by a former teacher of Yevgeny Kaspersky from the Higher School of the KGB of the USSR. Wage was about 50 US dollars.
Business development
Since the fall of 1994, Natalya Ivanovna Kasperskaya became responsible for sales of the AVP (AntiViral Toolkit Pro) antivirus as the head of the department. The program has been developed since 1991 by a team of programmers led by her husband. Thanks to her activity, over the next few years it was possible to create good distribution channels for the software product, organize technical support and begin expansion into foreign markets.
Starting with sales of 100-200 US dollars per month in 1994, a year later the company reached volumes of more than 130 thousand US dollars. Sales of the product began to grow rapidly, amounting to more than 600 thousand in 1996, and more than a million the next year. Profits were divided equally between the Kaspersky team and the parent company. By 1997, the Kaspersky couple realized the potential of the business and decided to separate into an independent business.
Creation of Kaspersky Lab
In the summer of 1997, Natalya Ivanovna Kasperskaya initiated the organization Kaspersky Lab. It was on her initiative that the company received this name. She worked as the CEO of Kaspersky Lab for more than 10 years. In the IT company, she owned 10% of the shares, 50% belonged to Evgeniy, and 20% each went to two software developers. Antivirus sales continued to grow rapidly, reaching $67 million in 2006.
In 2007, she was removed from the management of the Laboratory due to divorce and disagreements with Evgeniy. Natalya remained in the company as chairman of the created board of directors. By 2011, she finally parted ways with Kaspersky Lab, and her shares were bought out by other shareholders. Under Natalya's leadership, the once small Russian IT company has grown into a global corporation with offices around the world. Capitalization in 2011 was estimated at $1.3 billion with annual revenue of 700 million. Natalia's personal fortune was estimated at 220-270 million USD. e.
Organizing your business
After dividing the business, she received the InfoWatch company as part of the payment. Natalya Kasperskaya decided to develop the company's software product, which was aimed at protecting the data of large businesses and was intended for corporations with at least 300 stations. After the arrival of new management, sales began to grow by 60-70% per year.
Today, Infowatch has grown into a group of companies specializing in protecting businesses from internal threats and targeted external attacks. The group occupies approximately 50% of the local confidential data market. Regular clients are large Russian government agencies, private and public corporations. The company is actively exploring foreign markets, developing business in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Natalya Ivanovna Kasperskaya(February 5, 1966, Moscow) - General Director of InfoWatch, co-founder of Kaspersky Lab. From October 2006 (and until 2012) she and her ex-husband Evgeniy Kaspersky owned 60 percent of the company.
Biography
Born in Moscow on February 5, 1966. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Electronic Engineering with a degree in Applied Mathematics in 1989. Received a bachelor's degree from the Open University of Great Britain.
In 1994, she began working at the KAMI Research and Development Center as a software product salesperson; after some time, she headed the AVP anti-virus project, with the development of which the history of Kaspersky Lab began. AVP's sales volume at that time was $200 per month.
In 1997, she co-founded the Kaspersky Lab company. She was the head of the company for about 15 years. During this time, Kaspersky Lab has become one of the leaders international market computer security systems with a large turnover of funds.
In 2004, on the basis of Kaspersky Lab, Natalya founded new company, which develops tools to protect corporate confidential information from internal threats (DLP systems). Solutions developed by InfoWatch are distributed both in Russia and abroad.
In the summer of 2007, Natalya Ivanovna was elected to the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kaspersky Lab.
Since 2007, she has held the post of CEO of InfoWatch.
In April 2008, she was elected as a member of the board of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade.
In 2010, she took 2nd place in the Information Technology category of the ranking of top executives according to the Kommersant newspaper.
In July 2011, she resigned from the board of directors of Kaspersky Lab. In 2013, information appeared in the media that Natalya Kasperskaya became a co-owner of the German antivirus company G Data and would distribute the products of this vendor in Russia. However, later in an interview with Continent of Siberia, she noted that the parties were unable to reach a compromise.
In 2013, Natalya Kasperskaya invested in the Russian startup Taiga, which became part of the InfoWatch Group of Companies. Taiga is developing an innovative system for protecting mobile devices from tracking and information theft.
Natalya Kasperskaya is the winner of numerous prestigious international awards in the field of information technology:
· Winner of the prestigious international award “Russian Business Leader of the Year” for services to the development of the Russian IT industry according to Horasis, the Global visions community.
· Nominated by the British publication BRIC Magazine for the title of the most influential person in Russia in the first quarter of 2015 for his contribution to the development of the IT industry.
Family
Divorced in 1998, her second husband is businessman Igor Ashmanov. Mother of five children: from her first marriage - Maxim (b. 1989) and Ivan (b. 1991), from the second - Alexandra (b. 2005), Maria (b. 2009) and Varvara (b. 2012).
Natalya Kasperskaya - photo
Perhaps Evgeniy Kaspersky would have remained a talented, but little-known programmer, if not for his ex-wife Natalia. It was she who established the successful sale of her husband’s IT developments. And while the business began to flourish, the Kaspersky family fell apart. But Natalya and Evgeniy managed to maintain their relationship and are still co-owners of Kaspersky Lab.
A business woman told why she hid her divorce from the creator of an antivirus, how she copes with four children and what she dreams about. A business woman told why she hid her divorce from the creator of an antivirus, how she copes with four children and what she dreams about.
Divorce is not a hindrance to business
Natalya, the company was created in 1997, and two years later you divorced Evgeniy Kaspersky, with whom you lived for almost 10 years and gave birth to two sons...
We both understood that the company was very dear to us. At that time, the “Laboratory” was a little over a year old, it was just beginning to rise. The divorce of the two founders could be perceived negatively by the market and put its future in jeopardy. Kaspersky and I agreed not to tell anyone about the divorce (according to rumors, Evgeniy was the initiator of the breakup, as if he left the family after meeting another woman. - Note). For a whole year we, like two partisans, remained silent and formally remained husband and wife. There was no talk of dividing the business at all.
Was this a difficult decision for you?
The interests of the company have always been higher than my personal experiences. I perceived Kaspersky Lab as my child, I saw prospects for growth. And even though emotions sometimes went wild, I understood that Kaspersky and I found ourselves in a bond that could not be broken. Zhenya was an important link - a unique analyst, one of the world's top ten information security experts. And the entire business part rested on me.
Kaspersky Lab
In 1989, a graduate of the “Higher Red Banner School of the KGB” (now the Institute of Cryptography, Communications and Informatics of the Academy of the FSB of the Russian Federation) Evgeny Kaspersky “cured” his computer from a virus using a program that he himself wrote. In 1991, his wife Natalya patented the AVP program (later Kaspersky Anti-Virus) in the All-Russian Authors Society. In 1997, the couple founded Kaspersky Lab. Two years later, the company increased its share in the Russian antivirus market from 5 to 50%. Kaspersky Lab's turnover in 2009 was $480 million. It employs more than 1,700 specialists. According to Finance magazine, Natalia Kasperskaya's net worth is estimated at $462 million.
They say that the success of Kaspersky Anti-Virus is your merit?
The fact is that if there were no anti-virus program that caught viruses well, there would be nothing to sell. My role as a leader was not the last, but I would not completely attribute the success to myself. Business is teamwork.
I don't care about ratings. I was disappointed in them. I think it would be interesting to rank entrepreneurs who built a business from scratch and calculate how much money they earned. Another issue is that such a rating is difficult to compile - the information is usually closed. For example, how much does Kaspersky Lab cost? $100 million or $5 billion? No one knows. This is a closed joint stock company whose shares are not for sale. Therefore, when I saw myself in the ranking of billionaires, I was very surprised. I would be glad to see my millions in some more tangible form.
Why didn't you change your last name?
I'm used to it. The divorce occurred two years after we stopped living together. By this time, I had acquired documents for this last name and decided that I would not change it. Besides, I was already known as Natalya Kasperskaya. To be honest, even at the age of 20, when I got married for the first time, I didn’t really want to change my maiden name. But Kaspersky said: “Then we are leaving the registry office!” And my second husband no longer persuaded me to change my last name.
You have two sons from your marriage with Kaspersky and two daughters were born in your marriage to Igor Ashmanov. How did you decide?
Natalya Kasperskaya with her sons Maxim and Ivan. Natalya Kasperskaya with her sons Maxim and Ivan.
I got new family- What about without children? If I had gotten married for the second time earlier, I would have given birth to more, but I only have four. I have something to compare with, and I can say that raising children is easier now. Instead of diapers - diapers, instead of washing in a basin - washing machines, give birth to health! Besides, communication with a child is so pleasant! Especially until he insists on his own opinion, doesn’t stamp his foot on you, doesn’t run away for the night: “I’m spending the night with a girl tonight.” The first year is the best. Now the youngest Masha, she is a little over a year old, has gone. He twists out of his hands and runs away. That's it, my lafa is over.
“I won’t take my children to the Laboratory”
What do your sons do?
My eldest son Maxim is now graduating from the Faculty of Geography at Moscow State University, and I don’t see my drive in him. Until he sets clear goals for himself. And sometimes I get the feeling that his parents are more concerned about his future than he is. The younger one was simpler, he followed in our programmer footsteps. He got a job in one company, something didn’t work out there and he quickly left. I noticed that the children of successful people are quite often weak and inert: they have everything. I try to keep mine in good shape. I heard that wealthy Americans “throw their children out onto the streets,” forcing them to earn their own money for education and housing.
Children of successful people are quite often unskillful and inert: they have everything. But I try to keep mine in good shape.
But are you not ready?
I am not sure. Although I say: once you graduate from university, don’t expect any support from us. Next - myself.
Are you a successful mother?
Wait and see. Both sons entered on their own. Vanya won the Olympiad without exams, and the eldest is also a good student. But what they will do in life - time will tell. Of course, I would like to have someone to delegate matters to. But I won’t take them to the “Laboratory” until they gain experience: after all, the surname obliges.
You probably have nothing to dream about...
I'm not a dreamer at all. I have desires and goals. For example, now I really want to learn how to snowboard well.
DOSSIER:
Natalya Ivanovna Kasperskaya
Born on February 5, 1966 in Moscow.
In 1989 she graduated from the Moscow Institute of Electronic Engineering with a degree in applied mathematics.
In 1994, she headed her husband’s anti-virus project at KAMI.
In 1997, she became one of the founders and CEO of Kaspersky Lab.
In 2007, she took the chair of the chairman of the board of directors. In the same year, she registered the company InfoWatch.
Married for the second time. Husband is businessman Igor Ashmanov.
Mother of four children: from her first marriage - Maxim (21 years old) and Ivan (18 years old), from her second - Alexandra (4 years old) and Maria (1 year old).
