Telegram messaging app founder Pavel Durov is a billionaire but says he doesn’t have a large personal fortune but is the father of more than 100 children around the world.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov. Photo: Instagram Pavel Durov

Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, who was arrested on August 24, has an estimated net worth of $12 billion and lives in Dubai, a playground for the super-rich. However, in a rare interview earlier this year, the Russian billionaire said he does not own large personal assets such as houses, real estate, yachts or private planes.

“I don’t think this lifestyle is for me. My number one priority in life is freedom,” Pavel Durov said on the show of American political commentator Tucker Carlson. The Russian billionaire said he focused all his energy on Telegram – a social network with 950 million users, which Pavel co-founded with his brother Nikolai in 2013.

The businessman born in 1984 seems to have a colorful private life, the Daily Mail reported. Pavel Durov posted many photos showing off his muscular body on his personal page. Despite his handsome appearance and status, the Russian billionaire is said to be single. In a previous post on Telegram, he said he was the father of more than 100 children around the world after donating sperm.

Pavel Durov has a daughter and a son with his ex-girlfriend Daria Bondarenko, who lives in Barcelona, ​​Spain. Recently, a Russian woman living in Switzerland named Irina Bolgar said he was the father of her daughter and two sons. The 44-year-old beauty confirmed that the two were romantically involved and that the children were “conceived and born naturally”.

Russian beauty Irina Bolgar with Durov and three children she says he is their father. Photo: Irina Bolgar

Born in Russia in 1984, Pavel Durov spent much of his childhood in Italy, returning home when his father, a scholar of ancient Roman literature, took a job at St Petersburg University. He and his older brother Nikolai became proficient in computer programming at a young age. After leaving university at the age of 21, Pavel Durov founded the social network VK, which is considered the Russian equivalent of Facebook . In 2013, the Durov brothers founded the encrypted messaging app Telegram .

However, a year later, Pavel Durov left Russia after refusing to comply with the government’s request to close opposition communities on the social network VK, which he also founded but sold.

The businessman, born in 1984 and with dual French and UAE citizenship, was arrested at an airport outside Paris on the evening of August 24. A source in France said Pavel Durov was the target of an arrest warrant as part of a preliminary investigation into the lack of moderation on Telegram . Police believe this situation allows criminal activities to continue unchecked on the messaging app.