Nebius: from a sanctioned Yandex shell to $46B of AI-cloud contracts

AI-centric cloud (GPU clusters, storage, managed services) sold as long-term dedicated-capacity contracts, plus stakes in ClickHouse, Toloka and Avride.

That a halted shell with one Finnish data center and a live Nasdaq listing could rebuild into a top AI cloud, selling hyperscalers dedicated GPU capacity years forward.

Roughly $2B in cash from selling the Russian assets (TechCrunch); investors include Nvidia and Accel (Reuters).

Yandex N.V., the 'Google of Russia' worth $31B at end-2021, had its Nasdaq trading halted in March 2022 under sanctions. CEO Arkady Volozh was EU-sanctioned and resigned; the EU removed him from the list in March 2024 and he returned as CEO.

Yandex sold its Russian assets (~$2B in cash) and rebuilt around its Finnish AI-cloud unit as Nebius Group; Nasdaq trading resumed Oct 21, 2024. Microsoft signed a $17.4B (up to $19.4B through 2031) dedicated-capacity deal on Sept 8, 2025; Meta followed with a $3B five-year deal in Nov 2025 — sized only to what capacity Nebius had free.

In March 2026 Meta expanded to up to $27B over five years ($12B firm from early 2027, Vera Rubin clusters) — larger than Nebius's ~$25B market cap. Combined hyperscaler contracts ≈ $46B; Q3 2025 revenue +355% to $146.1M, with a $7–9B run-rate target by end-2026.

Sanctions forced the cleanest possible split: selling Russia left a dollar-rich, listing-intact shell with no legacy business to protect — a rare blank slate.

The Nasdaq ticker was the moat: public currency for capital raises in a business where access to capital is the constraint.

Contract-first economics de-risk the buildout: dedicated capacity sold years forward to investment-grade counterparties (Microsoft, Meta) before new data centers are financed.

Timing arbitrage: hyperscalers needed overflow GPU capacity faster than they could build it, and Nebius could deliver a New Jersey site within months of signing.

Concentration is the flip side: one or two hyperscaler customers now exceed the company's market cap, and HN's circular-financing debate tests whether that demand survives a pause.

A listing can outlive a company: the halt that looked like a death sentence left Yandex's shell a Nasdaq ticker, a data center and cash — rebuilt into a $46B-contract AI cloud.

As of mid-2026 Nebius is the fastest-scaling of the neoclouds: roughly $46B in contracted hyperscaler deals (Microsoft up to $19.4B through 2031; Meta up to $27B over five years, $12B firm from early 2027), Q3 2025 revenue of $146.1M (+355%) and a $7–9B end-2026 run-rate target. The Meta expansion in March 2026 — one contract worth more than the company's market cap — sent shares up 14% premarket. The debate a 370-point HN thread (July 2026) captured: whether Nvidia-adjacent 'circular' demand among GPU sellers, buyers and financers makes these contracts less solid than their headline value.