Europe

Telegram Founder Will Leave Billions of Fortune to His 100+ Children

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Inspirepreneur Team

Jun 21, 2025 8:00 AM IST

Category Europe

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Synopsis

The founder of Telegram is willing to divide his massive $13.9 billion inheritance between more than 100 children he claims as his own. So this is what happened. Durov informed a French magazine that…

The founder of Telegram is willing to divide his massive $13.9 billion inheritance between more than 100 children he claims as his own.

So this is what happened. Durov informed a French magazine that he has six official children with three women. But hear this - he also gave away his semen to assist a pal around 15 years ago. That clinic informed him that his donations resulted in more than 100 babies born in 12 nations.

The Russian technology fellow is quite explicit about his wishes. All of these children should receive equal treatment when it comes to their fortune. He doesn't want them fighting with one another after he's dead. 

Kids Must Wait Three Decades for Their Cash

But there's a catch to this tale. These kids will get not a penny for 30 years. Durov believes this will toughen them up and make them independent. He wants them fighting for their own success, not just waiting around for Dad’s cash.

Why make a will at age 40? Well, Durov states that his line of work makes him a target. Operating a messaging app that the government dislikes has generated enough enemies for him. Some of those enemies just so happen to be in charge of entire nations, so that makes things rather hazardous to him.

His Telegram app is massive - more than a billion individuals use it each month. The app prioritizes the privacy of messages, which is wonderful, but also gives headaches to law enforcement.

French Courts Want Him Behind Bars

Durov's facing serious legal issues in France these days. French police arrested him last year for allegedly not taking strong enough action to prevent criminals on Telegram. They're talking about drug traffickers, individuals posting awful content with children, and all manner of scams being conducted on his service.

Durov believes such allegations are absurd. He states that merely because evil individuals make use of his app doesn't qualify him as a criminal. It is similar to accusing the phone company when somebody makes death threats, he claims.

The entire debacle began because Telegram doesn't monitor what people are saying as stringently as other platforms do. French authorities would like to see him crack down more on illegal content, but Durov based his company on the belief that individuals ought to be able to converse in private.

Platform Struggles with Harmful Content Problems

This is where the trouble starts for Telegram. The app allows groups to expand to 200,000 users, which is enormous compared to other messaging applications. Critics argue that this makes it extremely simple for propaganda and harmful content to run rampant like wildfire.

British authorities were quite angry with Telegram last summer. Violent riots in a number of English cities were organized using the app by far-right groups. Though Telegram did close some of the groups, most experts believe they're still far too lenient about policing content relative to Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.

Durov fled Russia in 2014 when he refused to censor content on VKontakte, yet another social network he founded. The government asked him to delete some posts, but he refused and got ousted. Today, he resides in Dubai, where Telegram has its base.

In spite of all the drama, users continue to use Telegram. It's particularly favored in regions where people are concerned about government eavesdropping or want to send messages without tampering.

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