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Telegram’s billionaire founder pledges equal inheritance to all his children—biological and donor-conceived—while locking access for 30 years to promote independence and safeguard the platform’s
Tech billionaire Pavel Durov reveals details of his will, pledging equal inheritance to his six legal children and dozens more conceived through sperm donation—while vowing to keep Telegram’s mission alive
In a rare and candid interview with Le Point, Pavel Durov—the enigmatic founder and CEO of Telegram—has disclosed his long-term inheritance plans, revealing that he intends to divide his estate among more than 100 of his biological children. Known for his fiercely guarded privacy and libertarian ideals, Durov, 40, is now making headlines not just for his stance on digital freedom but for his unconventional approach to fatherhood and legacy.
Durov, who currently resides in Dubai, stated that he has written a will that ensures equitable treatment for all his offspring—six from personal relationships and “scores” more conceived via sperm donation. “They are all my children and will all have the same rights,” he told Le Point. “I don’t want them to tear each other apart after my death.”
This bold revelation follows Durov’s 2023 disclosure on social media that he had fathered over 100 children over the course of 15 years, encouraged by a doctor who said it was his “civic duty” to donate his “high-quality donor material.”
While Durov’s net worth is estimated at $13.9 billion by Bloomberg, the tech mogul downplays the figure, calling it “theoretical.” He insists his liquid assets are significantly lower, largely due to his early investment in bitcoin in 2013 rather than revenue from Telegram, which he has refused to monetize or sell.
Despite the staggering valuation, his children won’t have access to their inheritance anytime soon. “I decided that my children would not have access to my fortune until a period of 30 years has elapsed, starting from today,” Durov said. His reasoning is philosophical: he wants his children to “build themselves up alone, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create, not to be dependent on a bank account.”
The will also serves a broader purpose: protecting the future of Telegram, which has grown into one of the world’s most widely used messaging platforms with over a billion monthly users. “My work involves risks — defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states,” Durov added. “I want to protect my children, but also the company I created, Telegram. I want Telegram to forever remain faithful to the values I defend.”
Telegram has often drawn criticism and legal scrutiny due to its end-to-end encryption and loose content moderation policies, which law enforcement argue can be exploited by criminals. Last year, Durov was arrested in Paris on charges linked to the alleged misuse of his platform by money launderers, drug traffickers, and purveyors of child pornography. He dismissed the accusations as “absurd,” asserting: “Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn’t make those who run it criminals.”
As Telegram continues to disrupt the tech landscape, Durov remains its sole shareholder and ideological anchor. And now, with a will that spans more than a hundred lives, he’s ensuring that his philosophy of independence, equality, and innovation lives on—through both his platform and his progeny.
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