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Russian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov founded the popular social network and cryptocurrency, amassed a multibillion-dollar fortune and ran afoul of authorities in Russia and around the world.
A few months away from his 40th birthday, the man once called the “Russian Zuckerberg” because Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg now manages the Telegram app, which has more than 900 million users worldwide.
Yet Durov, 39, is a controversial and mysterious figure who has promoted the health benefits of ice baths and fathered 100 children through sperm donation. He has been accused of not doing enough to stop the spread of extremist content on his network.
The sensational arrest of Durov at a Paris airport last weekend could be a turning point. On Wednesday, Durov was charged by French judicial authorities and banned from leaving the country.
Durov, a self-described libertarian who advocates for privacy and free speech on the Internet, has steadfastly refused to allow censorship of messages on Telegram.
Although Forbes magazine estimates Durov’s wealth at $15.5 billion, Durov said his goal in life has never been to become rich but to be “free.”
In a rare interview with US talk show host Tucker Carlson in April, he said: “My mission in life is to enable other people to be free whenever possible… I want them to be able to use the platform that we’ve created to express their own freedom.”
“That’s Telegram’s mission.”
– “Thank you for the fish” –
Durov was born into a scholar’s family in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during the Soviet era. He spent his childhood in Italy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, his family returned to their country.
In his 20s, he founded the VKontakte (VK) social network to cater to Russian-speaking users and surpass Facebook throughout the former Soviet Union.
In 2012, Durov performed a typically unpredictable act, throwing large-denomination bills to passers-by at VK headquarters above a historic bookstore on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg.
After disputes with Russian authorities and an ownership battle, he sold VKontakte and founded Telegram with his brother Nikolai, whom he credits with being the mathematical brains behind the company’s success.
Durov resigned from VK in typical fashion, posting a photo of a dolphin and the slogan “Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish”, a reference to the title of the famous sci-fi series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.
– ‘100% mine’ –
In 2014, he stopped living in Russia, adopted a nomadic lifestyle, and acquired citizenship of the Caribbean country of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
But his reported departure from Russia was not a sudden exile: he visited Russia more than 50 times between 2015 and 2021, according to the Vazhnye Istorii news website, citing leaked border data.
Durov settled in Dubai, which he considered to be the best business environment for the creation of Telegram, and he also obtained UAE citizenship.
He boasted to Carlson that Telegram had only 30 core employees and “zero” marketing investment, in stark contrast to its competitors. He made it clear that “Telegram is 100% owned by me.”
In August 2021, he also obtained French citizenship in a low-key procedure, which was kept highly secretive by Paris.
In 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron had lunch with Durov in Paris and suggested that Telegram be headquartered in the French capital, according to the Wall Street Journal.
But Durov refused, the newspaper said, adding that France and the United Arab Emirates had worked together to hack into his phone amid concerns that Telegram provided a platform for Islamic extremists.
– ‘Civic duty’ –
Meanwhile, Telegram has been wildly successful, positioning itself as a defender of individual freedoms, rejecting “censorship” and protecting the privacy of its users.
The move angered authorities, particularly in his home country, and in 2018 a Moscow court ordered a block on the application.
But implementation of the measure was so chaotic that Russia abandoned its efforts to block Telegram, an app used by both the government and opposition, with some channels boasting hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Telegram has also played a key role in Russia’s war with Ukraine, with bloggers on both sides posting analysis and videos of the conflict.
Durov also found time to create cryptocurrencies, Toncoin and Notcoin, which were derived from viral Telegram games.
Almost always dressed in black, perhaps trying to emulate Keanu Reeves’ look in “The Matrix,” Durov has easily cultivated a mysterious image.
In July, he boasted on Telegram that he had become the biological father of more than 100 children by donating sperm in more than a dozen countries, describing this as a “civic responsibility”, an attitude towards parenting that is exactly the same as that of tech tycoon, X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Durov told Carlson that he was happy about Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. “Twitter or X seems to be increasingly supportive of free speech, which is a great step forward.”
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