TRussian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov has founded hugely popular social networks and a cryptocurrency, amassed a multi-billion dollar fortune, and clashed with authorities in Russia and around the world.
The man, who is just months away from his 40th birthday, was once dubbed the “Russian Zuckerberg” after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and is now under arrest in France after being detained at a Paris airport this weekend.
The St. Petersburg native rose to fame in Russia in his twenties after founding the social network VKontakte (VK), which was tailored to the needs of Russian-speaking users and surpassed Facebook throughout the former USSR.
After clashes with Russian authorities and ownership disputes, he sold his shares in VKontakte and founded a new messaging service called Telegram, which quickly gained popularity but proved controversial, with critics complaining of an alleged lack of control over extremist content.
While these dramas were unfolding, Durov remained a moody and at times mysterious figure, rarely giving interviews and confining himself to sometimes enigmatic statements on Telegram.
Durov is an avowed libertarian and advocates for internet confidentiality and message encryption.
He has defiantly refused to allow message moderation on Telegram, which allows users to post videos, pictures and comments on “channels” that anyone can follow.
An arrest warrant has been issued against Durov, 39, in France for alleged crimes committed via Telegram, ranging from fraud, drug trafficking and cyberbullying to organized crime, including promoting terrorism and fraud.
The investigation has been entrusted to the cyber unit of the French gendarmerie and the national anti-fraud office. According to two sources familiar with the case, he was still in police custody on Sunday. He has not been charged with any crime.
In 2006, shortly after graduating from St. Petersburg University, Durov founded VK and attracted users even though its founder was still a shady figure.
In a stunt typical of his erratic behavior, in 2012 Durov showered passersby with high-denomination banknotes from the roof of VK headquarters on a historic bookstore on Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg.
During the anti-Putin protests that rocked Russia in early 2012, he also emerged as a hero of the liberal opposition by refusing to close groups on the website dedicated to organizing protest marches.
But after he got into trouble with the Kremlin because he refused to hand over users’ personal data to the Russian secret service FSB, he sold his share in the company in 2014 and left Russia.
Durov resigned from VK with his trademark gesture, posting a picture of dolphins and the slogan “Bye and thanks for the fish,” a title from the science fiction series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
He developed Telegram with his brother Nikolai while traveling from country to country and launched the service in 2013.
He settled in Dubai and obtained citizenship of the Caribbean archipelago of St. Kitts and Nevis. In August 2021, he was granted French citizenship after a low-key procedure about which Paris remains extremely secret.
Meanwhile, Telegram enjoyed tremendous success by presenting itself as a champion of individual freedoms, rejecting “censorship” and protecting the confidentiality of its users.
The app’s combination of ease of use and privacy made it popular with pro-democracy protesters around the world, from Hong Kong and Iran to Belarus and Russia.
This angered the authorities, especially in his home country, and in 2018 a Moscow court ordered the service to be blocked. But the implementation of the measure was chaotic and three days later protesters bombed the FSB headquarters with paper airplanes, the symbol of Telegram.
Russia has since abandoned its efforts to block Telegram. The messaging service is used by both the Russian government and the opposition; some channels have several hundred thousand subscribers.
Telegram also plays a key role in Russia’s war against Ukraine. This is documented by bloggers on both sides who publish their analyses and videos of the fighting.
The pro-Moscow channels of the pro-war “Z-bloggers” have proven to be extremely influential and sometimes express criticism of Russian military strategy.
Durov avoids traditional media interviews, but met with ultra-conservative US journalist Tucker Carlson for an extensive conversation in April.
“(People) love the independence. They also love the privacy, the freedom. (There are) many reasons why someone would switch to Telegram,” Durov told Carlson.
Durov is also not afraid to post messages on his own Telegram channel. He claims to lead a solitary life, abstaining from meat, alcohol and even coffee. He always dresses in black and resembles actor Keanu Reeves from the film Matrix.
In July, he boasted about being the biological father of over 100 children in a dozen countries thanks to his sperm donations, calling it a “civic duty” and an attitude toward child-rearing similar to that of another tech mogul, Tesla CEO and The X boss Elon Musk.
According to the latest estimate by Forbes magazine, Durov’s fortune is $15.5 billion (£11.7 billion), but the value of Toncoin, the cryptocurrency he created, has plummeted by more than 15 percent since his arrest was announced.
Telegram has long been targeted by European judicial authorities for allegedly spreading conspiracy theories and calling for murder, but Durov insists he responds to any request to remove content that calls for violence or murder.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
