Tech-billionaire will leave fortune to his 100 children
Pavel Durov founded Telegram, a cloud-based messenger with seamless sync.
You've probably heard about the Telegram messaging app, but you probably don't know much about the billionaire behind the app.
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Pavel Durov is Telegram's founder and Chief Executive Officer, and according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he is worth $ 13.9 billion (over R200 billion).
Billionaires tend to be somewhat extravagant and eccentric.
Durov has previously shared that he starts his day with 300 push-ups followed by 300 squats, does not drink coffee, tea or alcohol and on Easter wished his 11-million subscribers a happy holiday with a topless post.
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This behaviour isn't the most "out there", but in a recent interview, he shared that he will leave his massive fortune to his children.
While this too seems pretty normal, his children include the six he has had with different partners, as well as the babies born from his sperm donations.
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In an interview with Le Point magazine, Durov says he started donating sperm 15 years ago, and more than 100 babies have been conceived using his donations.
I want to specify that I make no difference between my children: there are those who were conceived naturally and those who come from my sperm donations. They are all my children and will all have the same rights. I wrote my will very recently. I decided that my children would not have access to my fortune until a period of 30 years has elapsed, starting from today.
While Telegram has over one billion users, Durov has had serious legal troubles after he was arrested and charged with 12 organised crime offences in August 2024.
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The charges are linked to child pornography, drug trafficking, money laundering and other crimes that the French authorities claim have been committed on Telegram, thus making him complicit.
Durov told Le Point that these charges are "totally absurd".
The billionaire recently won a ruling that should allow him to travel more freely and starting 10 July he can travel for stints as long as two weeks.
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Main image courtesy of @themustufakhan/X