Pavel Durov is an elite businessman, billionaire, investor, and a great entrepreneur who is the chief executive officer, and CEO of the social messaging app, Telegram and is also known to be a co-founder of the app VKontakte (acronym as Vk). With the recent advancement in the web 3.0 space, his social app, Telegram, has gained more users than the initial number of users making him earn more income increasing his net worth in 2024.
You might be wondering who Pavel Durov is; his early life, career, his net worth, and reasons for his arrest, read this biography to know more about this Russian billionaire CEO.
Pavel Durov Awards and Achievements
Aside been awarded and acknowledged as a co-founder of the social app, VKontakte in Europe, he also played a crucial role in the development of the social messaging app, Telegram.
Some of the awards and recognition he received include;
• He was awarded Most Promising Northern European Leader in Aug 2014.
• He was selected to be part of WEF Young Global Leaders to stand for Finland in 2017.
• He was awarded the Union of Kazakhstan Journalist in 2018.
• He gained recognition in the 40 Under 40 Magazine in 2018.
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Pavel Durov 2024 Arrest
Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram Inc. was arrested in Paris over charges that his social messaging app, Telegram is used for illegal activities such as the transfer of sexually abused images and drug trafficking.
He was arrested in France at the Paris-Le Bourget Airport after arriving from Azerbaijan on the 24th, 2024. However, he claimed such activities were not carried out on telegram, and all the country’s policies and conditions were strictly abided by.
Pavel Durov Childhood
Pavel Durov was born on Oct, 10th 1984 in Saint Petersburg (formerly known to be Leningrad) in Russia. Throughout his childhood days, he lived in Turlin, Italy because that’s where his father works.
He attended Saint Petersburg University, Russia where he obtained his bachelor’s degree with a first-class grade in philology in the year 2006. He also obtained his master’s degree from the same University.
Pavel Durov Timeline
Pavel Durov is one of the most cheated Russians. He is credited for creating Russia’s first social media app called VKontakte. Here is a complete breakdown of his timeline:
Comprehensively, in 2006, he was a co-founder of Vk (VKontakte) which he partnered with Ilya Perekopsky; then, all the inspiration came from Facebook (Owned by Meta). Their hard work significantly raised the value of VKontakte above $3 billion.
In 2011, Pavel Durov battled with deadlock alongside the Police corps with charges to delete the page owned by political opposition. He sold his stake (about 12%) in VKontakte in Dec 2013 to Ivan Tavrin.
On 01st Apr 2014, He submitted his resignation letter as the Chief executive officer, and CEO of VKontakte (clue shows it related to the crisis between Russia and Ukraine).
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He later clarified that the resignation was an April fool, but he was later dismissed following the submission of the resignation letter he submitted (this happened on 24th Apr 2014). This made him leave Russia as he reported that the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin’s allies took ownership of VKontakte.
He relocated to Saint Kitts and Nevis where he became a citizen and was able to get a sum of $300 from Swiss Bank. This was when the inspiration for Telegram came up. He built the mobile app, Telegram while in Berlin before he finally relocated to the United Arab Emirates, Dubai where he stays currently.
Interestingly, while still facing charges from the American regulator SEC, he still grew the value of Telegram above $1.7 Billion alongside investors in 2018. At the moment, the value of Telegram is on the increase as he and his technical teams are working hard towards the growth of his Tech company providing satisfaction to his target users.
Pavel Durov Wife
Pavel Durov to date is not married, but yet, he claimed to have more than 100 children which he fathered through sperm donation to wipe the tears of childless couples.
The name of his father is Valery Durov who worked in the Academics as a head of department in the department of philology, Saint Petersburg University, Russia. He is a Doctor and has authored different research papers, and his mother’s maiden name is Ivanenko. His brother, Nikolai Durov, who’s also a computer programmer took part in the development of the social messaging app, Telegram.
Pavel Durov’s Investments
As of Aug 27th, 2024, Pavel Durov was listed as the 120th richest man in the world by Forbes. He is a Billionaire having a net worth of over $15.5 Billion. His wealth came through the social messaging app he built, Telegram which was said to have more than 720 million active users.
Initially, the headquarters of the Telegram social app was in Berlin; upon relocating to Dubai where he obtained citizenship through naturalization, the headquarters was moved to Dubai where he is working hard with his team to grow the firm beyond limits.
Pavel Durov Breakdown
Full name: Pavel Valeryevich Durov.
Date of: 10th Oct, 1984.
Age: 39 years old.
Hometown: Saint Petersburg, Russia. But an article claimed he is a registered citizen of 4 different countries ( in France, United Arab Emirates, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Russia)birth
Place of birth: Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Nationality: Russian.
Occupation: An Entrepreneur, Businessman, A techie (A Web developer and Software developer)
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Bottom Line
Pavel Durov is an experienced businessman and entrepreneur in the field of technology who is known to have obtained citizenship from 4 different countries. He resides in Dubai where the headquarters of his social app, Telegram is been situated.
One of the unique qualities he possesses is the fact that he’s not married to date but has donated sperm across 12 countries and produced more than 100 children putting smiles on the faces of childless couples. The story of his arrest came as a shock to the globe at large following the charges laid against the billionaire CEO.
