from what a few people posted in other threads, DST is basically a way for some shady russian outfits to launder money.

That's the reason they don't mind overpaying a lot for their investments

Just read up on the guy who owns 32% of DST: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisher_Usmanov#Legal_action_ov...

I think a better takeaway is that they are attacking a unique niche in Venture Capital. Allowing for people to cash out before IPO, as well as allowing those who understand the company to run it.

What evidence is there of this?

no idea, like I said I'm just reposting what others said, but you can just look at their investments, it's obviously they don't care about money since they consistently overpay by a huge number for their investments.

No real investment fund that gets it's money from legit investors would consistently overpay...i.e. they "valued" facebook at 10 billion...at a time when facebook had problems raising funds at even a lower valuation. Why would you overpay when you don't have to?

'Overpaying' is just an opinion. Obviously we can only speculate, but many people scoffed at Google's share price at IPO - anyone who bought-in despite that now looks like a genius.

Also, as outsiders, it's impossible to know enough about what the exact funding situation for Facebook looked like at the time to make conclusions about overpaying.

Except Google had a good balance sheet/P&L...Facebook is barely profitable...and facebook has already reached it's peak.

> and facebook has already reached it's peak.

That's a ridiculous statement. Like Facebook or not, they've attracted a world-class team, are growing increasingly fast, and have consistently innovated in ways the rest of the Valley hasn't seen coming. The announcements at f8 just a few days ago are a great example of this. Facebook may or may not become Google -- or even Microsoft -- sized, but their risk is almost entirely execution now (and they've continually proven they know how to execute).

What? 60 years of anti-Soviet fear-mongering propaganda isn't good enough for you?

None.

shady oligarchy money. that's their secret sauce.

I bet they announce a deal with foursquare pretty soon too. Just goes to show you have to be in it to win it. I realize they are overpaying for these opportunities, but this trend of what I call, private IPO's, seems to be the new hot thing and DST is going to run the table while everyone else catches on. I personally think they will be successful so long as they diversify their risk enough.