Pavel Durov was born on October 10, 1984, in Leningrad, Soviet Union, which is now Saint Petersburg, Russia. He is known for founding the social network VK and, later with his brother Nikolai, creating Telegram, one of the most popular instant messaging platforms in the world with over 900 million unique monthly users. On August 24, 2024, he was arrested in France at Paris-Le Bourget airport just minutes before boarding his private jet.
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After making VK the most popular social network in Russia, surpassing Facebook, Durov earned the nickname “the Russian Mark Zuckerberg.” In 2020, he became one of the ten richest people in Russia following the success of Telegram.
Pavel Durov spent his childhood in Turin, Italy. His father, Valery, is a philology professor who worked in Italy. In 2001, the family returned to Russia, and in 2006, Pavel graduated with a degree in English philology from St. Petersburg State University. While training to become an interpreter, he created a library for sharing notes and books under the domain durov.com. Little did he know, this creation would change his life.
Less than a year later, Durov.com became so popular in universities that it led to the creation of a forum. Soon after, his former classmate Vyacheslav Mirilashvili read about Pavel Durov and persuaded his billionaire father to make the initial investment needed to turn the website into VK or VKontakte in November 2006. Initially, like Facebook, the site was meant to be a social network for students, but it gradually expanded to include everyone.
The Rise of VK in Russia and Pavel Durov’s Complicated Relationship with His Partners
Just a year after its launch, VK already had 3 million monthly active users. By 2009, it had grown to 50 million users, making it the largest social network in Europe. By mid-2018, VK had surpassed 500 million accounts, and by the end of 2022, it was the sixth most visited website in Russia.
After several rounds of investment, Pavel Durov owned 20% of VK, while Yitzchak Mirilashvili held 60%, his father Mikhael Mirilashvili held 10%, and Lev Leviev, the social network’s third co-founder and COO, held the remaining 10%. In 2007, Digital Sky Technologies (DST), owned by Russian-Israeli investor Yuri Milner, acquired 25% of the company.
To prepare for an IPO, DST separated its Russian and international assets. This led to VK and its main competitor, Odnoklassniki, being merged into the Mail.ru group. Following a series of financial transactions, Mail.ru acquired 40% of VK.
However, the Mail.ru director aimed to gain full control of VK by purchasing 100% of the social network’s shares, valuing it at $2-3 billion. Initially, this deal was planned but was later canceled when Pavel Durov refused. The IPO route was attempted again, but after conflicts between Durov and his co-founders, it was postponed indefinitely.
In an unexpected move, Mail.ru Group ceded control of its shares to Pavel Durov. Combining his remaining 12% stake, Durov regained full control of VK, holding 52% of the company.
Durov’s control lasted only one more year. The Mirilashvili family and Lev Leviev sold their shares to United Capital Partners, giving them 48% of VK. In January 2014, Pavel Durov sold his 12% stake to Ivan Tavrin, the CEO of MegaFon, Russia’s second-largest phone operator, which is owned by tycoon Alisher Usmanov, who has close ties to the country’s government and Vladimir Putin.
On April 1, Pavel Durov announced his resignation from VK. Initially, it was thought to be related to the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict, but on April 3, Durov claimed it was an April Fool’s joke. He later explained that VK was under Putin’s control, and he was unwilling to provide data on Ukrainians protesting against the war. He also published the government’s orders on his profile on the social network.
Telegram: One of the Most Important Instant Messaging Platforms in the World
After the VK incident, Pavel Durov left Russia and quickly obtained citizenship from Saint Kitts and Nevis, two islands in the northern Antilles, by donating $25,000 to a foundation for the diversification of the sugar industry. He then secured $300 million from Swiss banks, which he used to start his second venture, Telegram.
Initially based in Berlin, Telegram soon moved its operations to Dubai. The company argued that this move would allow it to create a truly free instant messaging platform, free from European regulations that could restrict freedom of expression. Although the company is officially registered in the British Virgin Islands, Telegram uses a complex shell company structure to delay compliance with subpoenas and legal requests from governments.
Telegram had 100,000 active users at its launch. By March 2014, it had grown to 35 million registered users and 15 million active users. By 2016, it had surpassed 100 million users, and two years later, the platform had doubled its number of active users.
In 2017, Pavel Durov, who has a strong interest in cryptocurrencies, announced TON (Telegram Open Network), a blockchain platform where Grams, Telegram’s native cryptocurrency, would operate. In 2020, the U.S. government banned the platform’s launch and the distribution of the cryptocurrency because it was an unregistered investment instrument.
Following the ban, Telegram settled with the U.S. government, paying a fine of $18.5 million and returning $1.22 billion to those who purchased Grams on the private TON marketplace.
In an interview with far-right presenter Tucker Carlson, Pavel Durov announced that Telegram now has more than 900 million active users worldwide. As of July 2023, it is the most popular social network in Russia, with a market share of 46.8%.
Pavel Durov: A Controversial Figure
On August 25, 2024, Pavel Durov was arrested in France as part of an investigation into the lack of moderation on the platform. Authorities believe that Telegram allows fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, terrorism promotion, and the spread of fake news that could endanger people or democracy.
Pavel Durov has always been a controversial figure. He has declared himself a libertarian and claims to practice asceticism, a philosophy that seeks to purify the spirit by rejecting material pleasures.
However, the reality is somewhat different. Durov is a person full of contradictions. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, he made a viral claim that he has no interest in money, yet he also admitted to having “a few hundred million dollars in his bank accounts or in Bitcoin.” In the same interview, he said he does not own any property, yachts, or private jets, even though his arrest in France occurred while he was boarding his private plane.
This is not the only instance where Durov’s actions have shown a level of hypocrisy in his supposedly ascetic lifestyle. Despite claiming to have renounced material pleasures, he has invested significant amounts of money in changing his physical appearance with hair implants.
He also claims to have fathered more than 100 children through sperm donation in 12 countries.
