Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of the popular messaging platform Telegram, has announced that he will leave his estimated £17 billion fortune to the more than 106 children he has fathered around the world.
The 40-year-old tech entrepreneur has six children from three different partners, but the majority of his offspring are believed to have been conceived through sperm donation. According to reports, Durov participated in large-scale donations to dozens of couples across 12 countries.
In a recent interview with Le Point magazine, Durov confirmed his inheritance plans, emphasizing that he sees no distinction between the children born through traditional means and those conceived via donation.
“They are all my children and will all have the same rights,” he said. “I don’t want them to tear each other apart after my death.”
However, Durov also revealed that none of his children will have access to the fortune for at least 30 years.
“I want them to live like normal people, to build their lives on their own, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create — not to be dependent on a bank account,” he explained.
Speculation about Durov’s paternity began last year when Irina Bolgar, a 44-year-old Russian woman living in Switzerland, claimed in Forbes Russia that Durov had fathered her three children — a daughter and two sons born in St. Petersburg in 2013, 2016, and 2017. She also publicly shared photographs of herself with the children and stated that they bear his surname.
Durov, who founded Telegram in 2013, has grown the platform to over one billion monthly active users globally. Despite his vast influence in the tech world, his personal life and legal circumstances have attracted increasing scrutiny.
He is currently under judicial supervision in France following an investigation into alleged organized criminal activity linked to Telegram. French authorities detained and charged him last year in connection with alleged offenses involving child exploitation content, drug trafficking, and financial fraud facilitated through the platform.
Durov has denied any wrongdoing and returned to Dubai, where he is now based, after responding to the charges in March.
