PARIS, France — Telegram founder Pavel Durov has announced plans to divide his estimated £10.3 billion fortune equally among more than 100 children he claims to have fathered, with none receiving access to their inheritance for 30 years.
The 40-year-old technology tycoon revealed in a French magazine interview that he does not differentiate between his legal children with three different women and those conceived with the sperm he donated. “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,” he said in Le Point magazine.
The self-exiled Russian billionaire said he is the “official father” of six children with three different partners, but has more than 100 other children after donating sperm to a fertility clinic. He told Le Point that 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.”
Based on current estimates of his wealth, each of his offspring would inherit about $131 million. However, Durov has stipulated that his children would not have access to their inheritance for 30 years.
“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,” he explained in the interview published Thursday.
The Dubai-based entrepreneur said he recently drafted his will due to personal risks associated with defending digital freedoms. “My work involves risks – defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states,” Durov stated.
Telegram, the encrypted messaging app he co-founded in 2013, has grown to more than a billion monthly active users and is known for its emphasis on privacy. However, the platform has faced scrutiny from law enforcement agencies across Europe.
Durov’s announcement comes as he remains under judicial supervision in France following his August 2024 arrest at Le Bourget Airport. French prosecutors charged him on twelve counts, including violations related to drug trafficking, child exploitation, money laundering and nine other crimes.
The tech billionaire strongly denied the allegations in Thursday’s interview, calling them “absurd.” He argued that “Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn’t make those who run it criminals.”
If Durov is convicted of the charges, he could face up to 20 years in prison. He currently cannot leave France and must report to police twice weekly while the investigation continues.
When questioned about his wealth, Durov dismissed Bloomberg’s $13.9 billion valuation as “theoretical,” telling Le Point: “Since I’m not selling Telegram, it doesn’t matter. I don’t have this money in a bank account. My liquid assets are much lower – and they don’t come from Telegram: they come from my investment in bitcoin in 2013.”
The inheritance plan has raised eyebrows given the sheer number of beneficiaries and the complex legal issues surrounding international estates. Legal experts note that implementing such a plan across multiple jurisdictions could prove challenging.
Durov fled Russia in 2014 after refusing government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform. He holds multiple citizenships including French, UAE, and St Kitts & Nevis passports.
Despite facing serious criminal charges, Telegram continues to operate normally. The company maintains that it abided by European Union laws and its moderation was “within industry standards and constantly improving.”
