Famous for
- Founder of Russia’s leading social network, VKontakte (now VK), and the world’s second most popular instant messenger Telegram. Left Russia in 2014 due to pressure from the authorities in connection with his business activities.
Сitizenship
- Russia
- UAE
- France
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
Assets
- Telegram Messenger. As of 2023, the total number of active monthly users of the platform is estimated at 800 million. According to rough estimates, the value of the company could be $30–50 billion (about 2.55–4.25 trillion rubles), while experts put the upper limit at $124 billion (about 10.52 trillion rubles).
- Before 2014, he owned a 12% stake in VKontakte, Russia’s largest social network. The value of the company at that time was about $3–4 billion (about 114–152 billion rubles).
- Digital Fortress is a network of data centres in the United States, providing the foundation on which Telegram was launched.
Interests and hobbies
Pavel Durov is committed to leading a healthy lifestyle. He has not consumed alcohol or caffeine for 20 years, does not eat meat or fast food, abstains from medication and practices fasting.
Professional history
Born on 10 October 1984 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). He attended school in Turin, Italy, where his family had moved after his father took on a teaching job. He finished high school in Russia, where he and his brother became interested in programming and met Yitzchak Mirilashvili, the future co-founder of VKontakte.
He graduated from Saint Petersburg State University in 2006. During his studies, he received various scholarships from the Vladimir Potanin Foundation and government grants. He also created an online library for students called Durov.ru.
In 2006, together with his brother and Yitzchak Mirilashvili, he founded the social network vkontakte.ru.
In 2007, a 25% stake in VKontakte was bought for $16.3 million (about 410 million rubles) by Yuri Milner’s fund, which later became part of the Mail.ru Group.
In 2008, the number of users of Durov’s social network reached 20 million. At that time, the founder introduced monetization mechanisms and a gaming platform to the site, which allowed external application developers to earn money through the social network.
In 2011, after the parliamentary elections in Russia, protests were coordinated through VKontakte, among other platforms. During this time, Durov published his correspondence with FSB officers, who demanded that he shut down opposition groups on the site. Eventually, Durov was subject to a police raid.
In 2013, Russian special services demanded that Durov hand over the data of Ukrainian users involved in Euromaidan, and later that he shut down the community operated by opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Both requests were refused.
In the same year, Durov became a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis, which allows visa-free travel to more than 100 countries.
At the same time, Durov founded the Digital Fortress data centre network in the US, which became the basis for Telegram, a messenger for exchanging encrypted messages. Within three years, its audience grew to 100 million users.
In 2014, Pavel Durov resigned as CEO of VKontakte, sold his remaining 12% stake in the company for about $300–400 million (11.4–15.2 billion rubles) and left Russia. In the same year, Mail.ru Group fully absorbed VKontakte.
In 2017, Durov moved to Dubai, where Telegram’s headquarters are located. In 2021 he became a citizen of the United Arab Emirates.
In the same year, he also became a French citizen.
Since 2018, Durov has been developing The Open Network (TON) blockchain network for his own cryptocurrency, Gram. The project was created in order to attract investments to fund Telegram. The project managed to raise $1.7 billion (approximately 105.5 billion rubles). In 2020, Durov announced the closure of the TON project due to a lawsuit filed by US regulators.
Deals and ventures
- $2.07 billion (about 78 billion rubles) – the total amount Mail.ru Group spent between 2007 and 2014 to acquire 100% of VKontakte.
- In 2015, VKontakte bought the ICVA data centre from Pavel Durov, which provided services to the social network. The transaction was worth 1 billion rubles (approximately $16.6 million).
- In 2013, Pavel Durov invested about $1.5 million (46.5 million rubles) in Bitcoin. By 2017, the investment was worth over $35 million (about 2 billion rubles).
- Pavel Durov has been investing his own money in Telegram throughout its existence. In 2023, he bought $70 million (about 6.79 billion rubles) worth of the company’s bonds.
Achievements
- In 2011, he was ranked third in Forbes’ ranking of the most unusual entrepreneurs, which focused on ‘madmen, cranks and eccentrics’.
- In 2017, he was included in the World Economic Forum’s list of its top 100 young leaders.
- In 2022, Forbes named him the richest man in the UAE.
- In 2023, he topped Arabian Business’ list of the 100 most influential people in Dubai.
Criticism and disputes
- In 2012, Durov threw banknotes out of the window of VK’s office in Saint Petersburg to mark its City Day. The event provoked mixed reactions among local society. Propagandist Vladimir Solovyov and Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky condemned and sharply criticized the incident.
- In 2013, there was a traffic accident in Saint Petersburg in which a police officer was hit by a car. According to the officer, Pavel Durov was at the wheel. A spokesman for the businessman said he did not drive cars. In the end, the case was not opened and no charges were brought.
- Telegram has been banned and restricted by governments in several countries. It was blocked in China in 2015. In 2017, it was blocked in Iran. Starting in 2018, the Russian authorities also tried to block Telegram, which even led to street protests. However, the authorities did not succeed and in 2020 all bans on the messenger were lifted.
- In 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission demanded that Durov’s cryptocurrency Gram be banned. The project was shut down, and Durov was forced to pay investors $1.22 billion (about 78 billion rubles) along with a fine of $18.5 million (about 1.2 billion rubles).
Attitudes to Russian–Ukrainian conflict
In March 2022, after the start of active hostilities, Durov published a post on his Telegram:
“If you follow my posts, you know that on my mum’s side I trace my lineage back to Kyiv. Her maiden name is Ukrainian (Ivanenko), and to this day we have many relatives living in Ukraine. Therefore, this tragic conflict is personal for both me and Telegram.
Nine years ago I was the CEO of VK, which was the largest social network in Russia and Ukraine. In 2013, the Russian security agency, FSB, demanded that I provide them the private data of the Ukrainian users of VK who were protesting against a pro-Russian President.
I refused to comply with these demands, because it would have meant a betrayal of our Ukrainian users. After that, I was fired from the company I founded and was forced to leave Russia.”
Community work
- In 2011, Durov, together with VKontakte’s business partner Yuri Milner, launched a charitable project to support internet startups. The company gave away a series of non-repayable $25,000 (about 725,000 rubles) grants for the development of startups. In 2012, the UK edition of Wired magazine listed the project among the top 3 “hot” developments in Russia’s startup industry.
- In 2012, Durov donated $1 million (approximately 31 million rubles) towards the development of Wikipedia.
- In 2020, Durov donated 6.5 million rubles (about $90,000) to activist Yegor Zhukov’s charity project. The money was used to help people in need as a result of the coronavirus.
- In 2022, Pavel Durov joined the Dubai government’s 1 Billion Meals Endowment project, paying for 12 million portions of food for the needy.
Additional information
Unmarried, two kids.
Source for information: Forbes.com, Bloomberg.com, Forbes.ru, Kommersant.ru, RBC.ru, Tass.ru
