Pavel Durov: Telegram Founder Leaves $14B Fortune to Over 100 Children

The founder of the messaging app, Pavel Durov, has announced that more than 100 children he has fathered will share his fortune, estimated at $13.9 billion. “They are all my children and will have the same rights! I don’t want them to fight among themselves after my death,” the billionaire founder of Telegram told the French magazine Le Point. The 40-year-old revealed he has six biological children with three different partners and has fathered over 100 children in total as a sperm donor to dozens of couples across 12 different countries. The Russian tech magnate also stated that his children will not access their inheritance for the next 30 years. “I want them to live like regular people, build their own lives, learn to trust their strengths, be creators, not dependents on a bank account,” he emphasized. Durov added that he drafted his will now because his work ‘involves risks.’ ‘Defending freedoms creates many enemies, even within powerful states,’ he noted. Durov’s app, Telegram, is renowned for its emphasis on privacy and encrypted conversations, boasting over one billion active users monthly. Last year, he faced criticism for allegedly failing to address criminal activity through the app but denied not cooperating with authorities in drug trafficking, child sexual abuse material, and fraud cases. In his interview with Le Point, he described the allegations as ‘entirely absurd.’ ‘The fact that criminals use our service – like many others – does not mean the administrators are criminals,’ he added. [Information from BBC]