Pavel Durov, a 39 year old billionaire known as the "Russian Zuckerberg," has been arrested.
According to CCTV News, the head office reporter learned that Pavel Durov, the founder of the well-known social media platform Telegram, was arrested in France on the 24th. French TF1 television reported that Pavel Durov may face charges of terrorism, money laundering, and drug trafficking.
After the news of Durov's arrest came out, the cryptocurrency Toncoin, which is closely related to Telegram, plummeted by more than 20% at one point.
At only 39 years old, with a net worth of over 100 billion yuan
Arrested for refusing to cooperate with French authorities
According to reference information, Durov was arrested on the evening of the 24th when he flew from Azerbaijan to Paris Bourget Airport and got off a private plane.
According to French media reports, Durov, who holds French nationality, has been included in the wanted list in France, and the French department responsible for combating crimes against minors has requested a search for him. It is said that this request is based on the results of a preliminary investigation.
The French judiciary believes that due to various reasons such as the refusal of the Telegram social platform to cooperate with the country's authorities, Durov is suspected of multiple illegal acts. It is reported that Durov may face charges including terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering. According to French media reports, Durov will face up to 20 years in prison in France.
On the early morning of the 25th, the Vice Chairman of the Russian State Duma, Davenkov, called on the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find ways to rescue Durov. He stated that he had already made a corresponding request to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Russian Embassy in France has taken necessary measures to understand the situation regarding Pavel Durov.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed strong dissatisfaction with this case, stating on social media, "Viewpoint: It's Europe in 2030, and you're being executed for liking a model
Pavel Durov was born in October 1984, and the media claimed that he holds citizenship of multiple countries including Russia, France, and the United Arab Emirates. According to reports, as Pavel Durov is a French citizen, he will not be exchanged or extradited to other countries.
Durov co founded VK, Russia's most popular social media website, in his hometown of St. Petersburg in 2006, earning him the nickname "Mark Zuckerberg of Russia". In 2013, Durov and his brothers founded the "Telegram" platform. In 2014, Durov left Russia and later obtained French citizenship.
The social media platform "Telegram" created by Pavel Durov is currently one of the most important social platforms used by Russian media and Russian users, and has become popular in countries such as Ukraine, India, the United States, and Brazil. As of July this year, the platform's users have approached 1 billion.
Pavel Durov is currently a top billionaire, with a net worth of $15.5 billion (approximately RMB 110.4 billion) according to the Forbes 2024 Global Billionaires List.
In terms of family, Durov has a daughter and a son, born in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Both children were born to Durov's former partner Daria. In addition, he also claimed to have over 100 biological children in 12 countries through donating sperm. According to Red Star News, on July 29th local time, he revealed on social media platforms that 15 years ago, by a stroke of luck, he became a sperm donor and has now successfully helped over 100 couples in 12 countries give birth to children. Due to the high demand for high-quality donation materials, the head of the medical institution also suggested that Durov donate more sperm. Durov said he plans to open up his DNA so that his children have a chance to find each other.
Main features include instant burning after reading and end-to-end privacy features
Refused to provide user data to official institutions in multiple countries
According to a reference cited on the Financial Times website on March 11th, the owner of the instant messaging app "Telegram" stated that the app has reached 900 million users and is close to profitability. This company is moving towards a potentially sensational IPO. Pavel Durov told the Financial Times that the Telegram platform, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has grown into one of the world's most popular social media applications and achieved huge revenue after launching advertising and paid subscription services two years ago.
In his first public interview since 2017, Durov said, "If this year doesn't work out, we hope to achieve profitability next year." He also mentioned that the platform's current monthly active users have increased from 500 million at the beginning of 2021 to 900 million. Durov said that potential investors, including the Global Post Tech Fund, have given the platform a valuation of over $30 billion, but he has ruled out the possibility of selling the platform while considering a future initial public offering (IPO).
As early as 2016, the "Telegram" platform had over 100 million monthly active users, with usage frequency doubling within a year and 350000 new users added daily. At the end of 2017, "Telegram" launched the blockchain project TON (Telegram Open Network) and subsequently issued tokens, raising $1.7 billion in one fell swoop. Since the beginning of this year, the gaming ecosystem on the TON blockchain has experienced explosive growth. Inal Kardan, the head of games at TON Foundation, revealed that currently about 20% of Telegram's monthly active users play at least one game, a 20 fold increase from December last year. This has also brought explosive growth to platform users, with Hamster Kombat alone claiming to have over 300 million users. In July of this year, Durov announced that the number of users on the "Telegram" platform had exceeded 950 million.
It is reported that the "Telegram" platform uses end-to-end encryption, and all chat content (including attachments) will not be transmitted through the "Telegram" server, so it will not be seen by third parties. In addition, it also provides a timed setting of "burning after reading", which means that private messages will automatically disappear after a certain period of time, providing excellent privacy. Therefore, its users are spread all over the world and are sought after in countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Brazil, and India. According to reports, the platform is also a gathering place for cryptocurrency groups. In the past few years, the platform has also become an important communication tool for governments and officials in many countries around the world, and a lifeline for civilians in conflict areas.
Two insiders said that once the "Telegram" platform becomes profitable and market conditions are favorable, it may plan to go public in the United States. Durov refused to comment on the listing schedule or possible listing locations, but stated that the Telegram platform has "studied multiple options". The Telegram platform has raised approximately $2 billion through debt financing.
Durov said that the Telegram platform will consider selling a certain quota of stocks to loyal users during its IPO. Durov said that there have been people expressing interest in participating in small-scale equity financing to him. He said, "If we want to raise funds, such as providing support for our (artificial intelligence) related ambitions, then this is a possible option." Durov also said that the "Telegram" platform is exploring the launch of an AI driven chatbot.
It is reported that Durov had refused to provide platform data to official agencies such as the Russian Federal Security Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States, and his arrest was also due to his refusal to cooperate with French law enforcement agencies. Previously, Durov revealed in an interview that the FBI was "attempting to recruit my engineers behind my back," seeking to install application backdoors to obtain user data information from the "Telegram" platform. He said that choosing the United Arab Emirates as the headquarters is because this country maintains neutrality.