Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the widely-used encrypted messaging service Telegram, was arrested in France after disembarking from his private jet at Le Bourget Airport. He faced a range of serious charges, including charges related to terrorism, narcotics, pedo-criminal content, complicity, money laundering, and fraud.
Background and Early Life
Durov was born on October 10, 1984, in Leningrad, Russia (now Saint Petersburg), although because of his father's job, he lived most of his early years in Turin, Italy. In 2006, he received a first-class degree from Saint Petersburg State University's Department of Philology.
Net Worth and Influence
Durov, the creator of Telegram, is believed to be worth $15.1 billion, mostly as a result of the messaging app’s popularity. In 2018, Russia made an attempt to shut down Telegram because Durov wouldn’t work with Russian security agencies. 2020 saw the restriction lifted after Telegram promised to deal with extremism and terrorism on the network.
Family and Heritage
Durov is from a distinguished family. Semyon Petrovich Tulyakov, his grandfather, was a World War II soldier who was awarded several military decorations. Valery Semenovich Durov, his father, is a prominent scholar and a doctorate holder in philological sciences. Durov's mother's side of the family is likewise Ukrainian.
Personal Life and Legacy
Durov, who became a citizen of the United Arab Emirates in April 2021, is single, has two kids, and lives in Dubai. Known for his libertarian beliefs, he maintains an austere lifestyle and promotes independence from material belongings. On his 27th birthday in 2011, he gave $1 million to the Wikimedia Foundation, and in 2012, he released manifestos advocating for libertarian improvements to Russia.
Career Highlights
Durov and Ilya Perekopsky co-founded VKontakte (VK) in 2006, emulating Facebook. VK expanded to a $3 billion value under his direction. Nonetheless, there were some controversial incidents throughout his tenure, such as a 2011 police standoff over requests to remove the pages of opposition politicians. He turned down the Mail.ru Group's 2012 proposal to buy VK, and in December 2013, he sold Ivan Tavrin his 12% ownership in the business.
The resignation of Durov as CEO of VK on April 1, 2014, which was first linked to the Russo-Ukrainian War, turned out to be an April Fool's hoax. He defied orders from Russian security services to take down the demonstrators from Ukraine and Alexei Navalny's VK profile. Consequently, he was formally dismissed as CEO on April 21, 2014, and claimed VK had been effectively taken over by Vladimir Putin’s allies. He subsequently left Russia.
Post-Russia Ventures
Durov obtained citizenship in Saint Kitts and Nevis after fleeing Russia, and he put $300 million in Swiss banks. His main project was creating Telegram, an encrypted messaging service with a Berlin headquarters that was eventually relocated to Dubai. To capitalize on Telegram's popularity, he unveiled the TON platform and the cryptocurrency "Gram" in 2018. Durov faced legal difficulties from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after obtaining $1.7 billion from investors.
Achievements and Recognition
Among Durov's achievements include turning Telegram into a well-known encrypted messaging service and growing VK into one of Europe's biggest social networks. Among his many honors are the titles of Most Promising Northern European Leader Under 30, Young Global Leaders member of the World Economic Forum, and 2018 award for his anti-censorship work from the Union of Kazakhstan's Journalists. In the same year, he was listed as one of Fortune magazine's "40 Under 40" people.
Trivia
Durov is well-known for being a vegetarian and teetotaler, and he is frequently likened to Mark Zuckerberg.