Pavel Durov is a billionaire tech boss with a difference – the Telegram CEO rejects the usual trappings of wealth, such as yachts and luxury property, saying he prioritises his ‘freedom’ above all else.
Durov’s Instagram is full of pictures flaunting his physique and jetset lifestyle, and he has proudly stated that he is a vegetarian who enjoys ‘getting up early’ and speaks nine foreign languages.
The 39-year-old says he likes living alone and is believed to be single, but also claims to have fathered more than 100 children after suggesting women want his ‘high-quality’ genes.
He has drawn comparisons with fellow tycoons Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, whose takeover of Twitter was lauded by Durov in a recent interview with US TV host Tucker Carlson.
But now the Russian tech wizard could face prison for failing to prevent the misuse of his platform for criminal activities, with French police swooping on him when he landed at an airport near Paris on Saturday night.
He is expected to face charges of complicity in drug trafficking, crimes against children and fraud, due to a lack of moderation controls on Telegram, and his failure to cooperate with French law enforcement.
Durov, who had been living in Dubai, was in self-imposed exile after a run-in with the Kremlin in 2014 over his refusal to hand over data on pro-Ukraine protesters to the FSB security services.
A vocal advocate for free speech, he has resisted calls from governments around the world to take down content from his platform, insisting: ‘I would rather be free than take orders from anyone.’
Pavel Durov’s Instagram is full of pictures and videos of him flaunting his physique
A very different-looking Durov seen in his 20s. He set up VK, dubbed the ‘Facebook of Russia’, when he left university at 21
Russian-born billionaire entrepreneur and Telegram messenger founder Pavel Durov, 39 (marked) pictured in Kazakhstan days before he was detained in France
World’s richest man Elon Musk, who also claims to be a free speech absolutist, has come out in support of Durov on his platform X, sharing footage of the interview along with the hastag ‘Free Pavel’.
‘We love the fact that Elon bought Twitter. We thought it was a great development for a number of reasons,’ Durov said in the clip.
He said he has a ‘few hundred million’ in his bank account but no major assets – ‘no real estate, jets or yachts’ – ‘I don’t think this lifestyle is for me.
‘My number one priority in life is my freedom. Once you start buying things, first it will tie you down to a physical location… the second is I like to focus on what we are doing at Telegram.’
‘I would rather make decisions that would influence how a billion people communicate rather than chose the colour of the seats in a house that me, my relatives and a bunch of my friends would see.’
Durov was forced to flee Russia ten years ago after refusing to hand over data on pro-Ukraine protesters to Vladimir Putin‘s FSB security services.
He was quoted by TechCrunch in 2014 as saying: ‘I don’t have any business in Russia and have no plans to return there. I have no Russian citizenship anymore.’
He helped to turn Moscow into an IT hotspot to rival Silicon Valley, but was forced to flee when VKontakte (VK) – the platform he started in 2006 – ran into ownership difficulties he blamed on the Kremlin.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, responded to the news by mocking Durov, saying he wanted to be a ‘brilliant man of the world’ but had ‘miscalculated’ by leaving Russia and trusting the West.
Irina Bolgar, 44, (pictured, centre) a Russian woman based in Switzerland, claimed he fathered her daughter and two sons born in 2013, 2016 and 2017
‘For all our common enemies now, he is Russian and therefore unpredictable and dangerous,’ he said. ‘Durov should finally realise that one cannot choose one’s fatherland.’
The Kremlin has accused the West of double standards on free speech, with foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova saying ‘Do you think this time they will appeal to Paris and demand Durov’s release, or will they swallow their tongues?’
Police swooped on the billionaire shortly after landing at the Bourget airport, outside Paris, following a flight from Azerbaijan, French outlet TF1 info reported, citing an unnamed source.
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov delivers a speech at a conference in 2016
Sources suggested he was fully aware that law enforcement in France had questions for him, and could move against him, with the tech tycoon described as a ‘persona non grata’ in France.
‘He made a mistake tonight. We don’t know why… Was this flight just a stopover? In any case, he’s in custody,’ said the source.
Despite this he was put on the wanted list only during his flight, say French reports.
There are suggestions he could cooperate with the French authorities but he has previously been careful not to travel to jurisdictions where he could be detained, including his own adopted country, France.
His last video before his arrest shows him driving freely in Azerbaijan shortly before leaving for Paris
Pictures have emerged showing Durov just days before his arrest in Azerbaijan, surrounded by his entourage as he goes up an escalator.
It is unclear why the entrepreneur was in the country, and the fact that his visit took place on the same week that Putin visited has given rise to speculation.
Durov reportedly landed in Baku on August 17 for business meetings, while Putin travelled there for an official visit to meet with President Ilham Aliyev.
Observers suggested the pair might have met secretly, with former Kremlin scriptwriter Sergey Markov saying the pair may have had an ‘accidental meeting’.
The Kremlin-linked Baza Telegram channel reported that Putin had refused a meeting with Durov, saying ‘the reason is not clear’.
Durov has previously denied that he retains any links to the Russian government.
His last video before his arrest shows him driving freely in Azerbaijan shortly before leaving for Paris.
Durov has dual French and Emirati citizenship and had been living in Dubai before his arrest
Durov’s Instagram is full of pictures flaunting his physique and jetset lifestyle
Born in Russia, Durov spent many of his childhood years in Italy before returning to his homeland when his father, a scholar in ancient Roman literature, landed a job at St Petersburg University.
He and his brother mastered computer code and programming from an early age, and a very different-looking Durov set up VK, dubbed the ‘Facebook of Russia’, when he left university at 21.
The tech tycoon founded Telegram in 2013, saying the absence of any secure form of communication in Russia gave rise to the idea.
Together with his ‘genius’ brother Nikolai, who Durov said did the coding for a the platform, he launched what would become one of the world’s most popular messaging applications.
It has garnered more than 950 million users over the past decade, making it one of the world’s biggest social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat.
The tech tycoon founded Telegram in 2013, saying the absence of any secure form of communication in Russia gave rise to the idea
Despite the site’s sheer scale, Durov has proudly stated that he retains complete control, as Telegram’s ‘sole owner, director and product manager’.
His tight grip on the app’s operations even sees him work directly with engineers, he told Carlson, adding that his unconventional approach to running his business also means that its HR department is ‘zero’.
Durov has dual French and Emirati citizenship and had been living in Dubai after he abandoned attempts to settle in Berlin, London and San Francisco because of the ‘bureaucratic hurdles’ which he said had been put in his way.
Durov recently claimed in a Telegram post to be the father to more than 100 children worldwide after becoming a sperm donor.
In a post on the app, he claimed it was his ‘civic duty’ given his ‘high quality donor material’.
Mr Durov also recently claimed to have fathered more than 100 children as a sperm donor. In a Telegram post, he wrote: ‘I was just told that I have over 100 biological kids’
According to Russian news site E1. RU, Durov’s sperm can still be purchased from a clinic in Moscow, for 35,000 rubles (£303).
He is known to have had a daughter and son with ex-partner Daria Bondarenko, who is now based in Barcelona.
And recently Irina Bolgar, 44, a Russian woman based in Switzerland, claimed he fathered her daughter and two sons born in 2013, 2016 and 2017, insisting they were ‘conceived and born naturally.’
A picture appears to show Durov with Bolgar and three children celebrating one of their birthdays.
Following Bolgar’s claims, Durov revealed in a post on Telegram last month that he was a prolific sperm-donor.
He did not comment on Bolgar’s claim specifically, but said: ‘I was just told that I have over 100 biological kids.
‘How is this possible for a guy who has never been married and prefers to live alone?’
He claimed that 15 years ago a friend approached him with a ‘weird request’.
‘He and his wife couldn’t have kids due to a fertility issue and asked me to donate sperm at a clinic for them to have a baby.
‘I laughed my ass off before realising he was dead serious.’
He said: ‘The boss of the clinic told me that ‘high quality donor material’ was in short supply and that it was my civic duty to donate more sperm to anonymously help more couples.
‘This sounded crazy enough to get me to sign up for sperm donation.
‘Fast forward to 2024, my past donating activity has helped over a hundred couples in 12 countries to have kids.
Recently Irina Bolgar, 44, a Russian woman based in Switzerland, claimed he fathered her daughter and two sons
‘Moreover, many years after I stopped being a donor, at least one IVF clinic….still has my frozen sperm available for anonymous use by families who want to have kids.’
It is unclear if his children might claim later to be heirs to his wealth.
But, he said: ‘Now I plan to open-source my DNA so that my biological children can find each other more easily.
‘Of course, there are risks, but I don’t regret having been a donor.
‘The shortage of healthy sperm has become an increasingly serious issue worldwide, and I’m proud that I did my part to help alleviate it.
‘I also want to help destigmatize the whole notion of sperm donation and incentivise more healthy men to do it, so that families struggling to have kids can enjoy more options. Defy convention — redefine the norm.’