Pavel Durov left Russia in 2014 after getting into trouble for not disclosing his users’ personal information.
Paris:
Russian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov has founded hugely popular social networks and a cryptocurrency, amassed a multi-billion dollar fortune, and taken on authorities not only in Russia but 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 is now under arrest in France following his high-profile arrest at a Paris airport over the weekend.
While still in his twenties, the St. Petersburg native rose to fame in Russia 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 also proved controversial as critics denounced 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 French gendarmerie’s cyber unit and the national anti-fraud office. He was still in police custody on Sunday, according to two sources familiar with the case.
“Thanks for all the fish”
In 2006, Durov, fresh out of Saint Petersburg University, launched VKontakte (VK), attracting more and more users, even though its founder was still a shady character.
In a stunt typical of his erratic behavior, in 2012 Durov showered passersby with high-denomination banknotes, which he dropped from the VK headquarters on the roof of a historic bookstore on Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg.
But after he got into trouble with the Kremlin for refusing to hand over users’ personal data to the Russian secret service FSB, he sold his shares in the company in 2014 and left Russia.
Durov resigned from VK with his typical gesture, posting a picture of dolphins and the slogan “Bye and thanks for the fish,” a title from the famous science fiction series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
He developed the messaging service Telegram together 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.
This angered the authorities, especially in his home country, and in 2018 a Moscow court ordered the application to be blocked. But the implementation of the measure was chaotic and three days later, ironically, protesters bombarded the FSB headquarters with paper airplanes, the symbol of Telegram.
Since then, Russia has 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.
Pro-Moscow channels of the so-called “Z-bloggers”, who support the war, have proven to be extremely influential and are sometimes critical of Russian military strategy.
“I love privacy”
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.
He is also not afraid to post messages on his own Telegram channel and claims to lead a solitary life, abstaining from meat, alcohol and even coffee. He always dresses in black and maintains a resemblance to actor Keanu Reeves in the film “The Matrix”.
In July, he boasted of 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, “X” and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
According to the latest estimate by Forbes magazine, Durov’s fortune is $15.5 billion. But Toncoin, the cryptocurrency he created, has fallen by more than 15 percent since his arrest was announced.
Telegram has long been targeted by European judicial authorities for allegedly spreading conspiracy theories, sharing calls for murder and hosting platforms for drug sales, but Durov insists he responds to any request to remove content that incites violence or murder.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
