Telegram Co-Founder and CEO Pavel Durov has announced plans to divide his fortune among his 106 children, both biological and those conceived through sperm donation.
According to Forbes, the 40-year-old telegram co-founder is worth $17.1 billion.
Durov, in an interview with the French outlet Le Point, revealed that he recently wrote his will, specifying equal treatment for all his children, including six officially fathered with three partners and over 100 others conceived through anonymous sperm donations across 12 countries.
“There are those who were conceived naturally and those who come from my sperm donations. They are all my children and will all have the same rights,” he said.
He stated that his will strictly prohibits his children from accessing the inheritance for the next 30 years. He explained that the move is meant to ensure they live like ordinary people, build their own lives independently, and learn self-reliance.
“I decided that my children would not have access to my fortune until a period of thirty years has elapsed, starting from today. 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 said
Number of children
Durov pointed out that he decided to write a will due to the risks involved in his work defending digital freedoms and maintaining Telegram’s independence from state control.
He disclosed that he had officially fathered six children with three different partners but began anonymously donating sperm 15 years ago to help a friend, leading to over 100 births across 12 countries.
“Six of whom I am the official father, whom I had with three different partners. The others come from my anonymous donation. 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,” he said.
The Telegram co-founder noted that if he is no more, a non-profit foundation will take over the company.
“If I disappear, a non-profit foundation will take over. My goal is to ensure the platform’s continuity: I want it to continue existing independently, regardless of privacy and freedom of expression,” he said.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported in December 2024 that Telegram has become profitable, surpassing $1 billion in revenue, with 12 million premium subscribers and over $500 million in cash reserves, excluding its crypto holdings.
The social media app last month secured a $300 million investment from Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, in a deal that will bring the Grok chatbot to the popular messaging platform.
According to Durov, the partnership includes a mix of cash and equity investment and marks a significant collaboration in the rapidly evolving AI messaging space.
As part of the agreement, Grok will be integrated into Telegram’s app ecosystem for one year and made accessible across apps on the platform. Telegram will also receive 50% of all xAI subscription revenue generated through its app.
