Pavel Durov, the co-founder and present CEO of the instant messaging app Telegram, has announced his intentions to distribute his enormous wealth among his (at least ) 106 children. The 40-year-old controversial entrepreneur reportedly has a net worth of around $17.1 billion, as per Forbes.
Pavel is the “official father” of six children born with three different partners. These children were conceived naturally. However, he has fathered 100 or more children via sperm donation. The billionaire initially became a sperm donor to help a friend, he said. However, the rest of the time, it was anonymous.
In a recent interview with French outlet Le Point, he explained, “The clinic, where I started donating sperm fifteen years ago to help a friend, told me that more than 100 babies had been conceived this way in 12 countries.”
Durov has plans to distribute his substantial estate among all his children, no matter how they were born. He told the outlet, “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 don’t want them to tear each other apart after my death.”
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has effectively been under house arrest in France since he was arrested there ten months ago. For the first time, he explains why.
(0:00) Being Arrested in France
(10:57) France’s Attempt to Humiliate and Tarnish Durov
(15:54) Did the Russian… pic.twitter.com/mTfNak10eK— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 9, 2025
However, he added that his children will not have access to his fortune “until a period of thirty years has elapsed, starting from today (the date of the interview)”, which means not before June 19, 2055. He explained, “I want them to live like normal people, to build themselves up alone, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create, not to be dependent on a bank account.”
The entrepreneur was then asked why he had written his will so early, as he is just 40. He then explained that his work involves risk. He stated, “defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states.”
Durov said that he wants to “protect” his children and also the company (Telegram) he created. “I want Telegram to forever remain faithful to the values I defend,” he was quoted.
Durov was arrested by French police in August 2024 on criminal charges relating to an alleged lack of content moderation on Telegram. Though the app is praised by its users for its privacy policies, the authorities have accused him of facilitating illegal activities via his platform. It is alleged that crimes such as child abuse, drug trade and fraud are committed on Telegram.
Durov told the French outlet, “It’s totally absurd. Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn’t make those who run it criminals.”
“Nothing has ever been proven showing that I am, even for a second, guilty of anything,” he added.
He also addressed the accusations of not cooperating with the investigating authorities. The billionaire said, “That’s false. It’s the French police who didn’t follow the international procedure correctly. Telegram teams even had to show them how to proceed.”
Though he was granted bail, he has been banned from travelling out of France. He said, “My parents have very serious health problems, and, statistically, they only have a few years left to live. I’ve been deprived of precious months with them. Also, I have a son who was just born and I’m missing the first months of his life.”
“He still doesn’t have a passport, because I wasn’t present at his birth in Dubai. I also have a teenage son who is in a boarding school in Dubai, who just broke his arm, and who has no parent by his side to support him,” the Telegram co-founder added.
9+ months after I learned about the investigation against me in France, I still don’t understand why it began.
At first, the authorities claimed Telegram didn’t respond to French requests — but it turned out they’d been ignoring the EU and French law, and hadn’t sent us a single…
— Pavel Durov (@durov) June 9, 2025
Revealing his long term plans for Telegram, he said that the platform will be taken over by a non-profit organization when he is gone. He emphasized that he wants the platform to keep running with “privacy and freedom of expression” for its users.
