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Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging service Telegram, made headlines earlier this yr when he mentioned Telegram had hit 900 million customers and was nearing profitability.
Now, Durov, 39, is within the information for a special motive. French media reported that he was arrested on the Paris Le Bourget airport on Saturday, Aug. 24. According to French Media, investigators from the National Anti-Fraud Office, hooked up to the French customs division, notified Durov that he was being positioned in police custody, the arrest was reportedly primarily based on costs associated to the unfold of illicit materials on Telegram.
“Telegram abides by E.U. legal guidelines, together with the Digital Services Act—its moderation is inside business requirements and consistently bettering. Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to cover and travels often in Europe,” Telegram wrote in an announcement emailed to TIME. “It is absurd to assert {that a} platform or its proprietor are liable for abuse of that platform.”
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office and France’s Ministry of Justice didn’t reply to TIME’s request for remark.
Durov has been a mogul within the app-creating business for years. In a uncommon interview with U.S. conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson in April 2024, Durov mentioned how vital free speech is to him, and why he created Telegram.
“For me, it was by no means about getting wealthy. For me, every part in my life was about changing into free,” Durov instructed Carlson throughout their sit-down in Dubai. “And to the extent that it was potential, my mission in life was to permit others to even be free. And utilizing the platforms that we created, my hope was that they may specific their freedom.”
With public curiosity in Durov arguably at an all-time excessive, right here’s what to know concerning the enterprise mogul.
Pavel Durov co-founded the encrypted messaging service Telegram and the social media platform VK
Durov has been known as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia,” in keeping with CNN, after co-founding the social media platform VKontakte (VK) in his native nation in 2006.
In 2014, Durov mentioned he had been fired from VK, Meanwhile, VK said that they had been performing on a earlier resignation letter from Durov that had not been rescinded.
Durov fled Russia in 2014, promoting his stake in VK, after reportedly refusing to cooperate with Russian authorities and supply encrypted information of customers of the app.
“It was a bit painful as a result of my first firm was my child,” Durov instructed Carlson in his 2024 interview. “But, on the identical time, I understood that I’d quite be free; I wouldn’t wish to take orders from anybody.”
In 2013, Durov based Telegram along with his brother, Nikolai Durov, which has solely grown in reputation since. Per Telegram, the messaging app has “a concentrate on velocity and safety. Telegram is like SMS and e-mail mixed—and might deal with all of your private or enterprise messaging wants.”
During his exile, Durov centered intensely on the expansion of Telegram. “I’m very blissful proper now with none property wherever,” Durov instructed the New York Times in 2014. “I contemplate myself a authorized citizen of the world.”
Telegram was banned in Russia from 2018 to 2020 after Telegram refused to offer Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) encryption keys granting entry to person messaging information.
What is Pavel Durov’s Nationality?
Durov was born in 1984 within the then-Soviet Union. When he was 4 years outdated, his household moved to Italy, although he returned to Russia after his father obtained a job at St Petersburg University, the place he himself finally attended for training.
Durov was granted French citizenship in 2021, however lives in Dubai. He reportedly additionally holds UAE citizenship.
What is Pavel Durov’s Net price?
According to Forbes, as of Aug. 25, Durov’s internet price is estimated to be $15.5 billion. Durov is at the moment listed quantity 120 on Forbes’ billionaire listing.
Does Pavel Durov have a spouse and youngsters?
Durov is single, however reportedly has 5 kids that he shares along with his ex-girlfriends, in keeping with his Forbes profile. On July 29, Durov mentioned in a put up on Telegram that he has over “100 organic children” by way of sperm donation.
