Telegram’s creator but banished from his hometown

Although only 37 years old, Pavel Valeryevich Durov is already an outstanding technology billionaire, as well as a prominent figure in the fight for freedom of expression and data privacy. With a personal net worth in the billions of dollars, Durov’s life is an interesting story that many people may not know.

Here are 5 fascinating facts about this dashing and talented guy, who recently shared topless snaps on his personal Instagram that made netizens “scoured”.

Build an empire on par with Facebook

Pavel Durov is compared to the Russian version of Mark Zuckerberg

Durov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he attended and graduated from Saint Petersburg State University in 2006. During that time, he founded the social networking site Vkontakte with his brother Nikolai, later widely known as the name VK and called the Russian Facebook.

Durov has now retired from the social networking space and focused on creating the messaging app Telegram, but VK is still valued at around $3 billion. According to Visual Capitalist, as of 2021, VK is the 19th most visited website on the planet with around 1.8 billion monthly active users.

Was fired from the position of CEO and left the country

One of the things that Durov attracts so many people is the clear goal of security and respect for the privacy of users’ data. However, it was this steadfastness that forced him to leave his position at VK and be expelled from Russia.

Become a global citizen, pursue a healthy lifestyle

Durov currently holds both Kittitian and French citizenship.

After leaving his homeland, through a $250,000 investment, Durov obtained citizenship in the Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. This allows him to stay focused on his next project and live a nomadic lifestyle. According to Forbes, after moving to many places, Durov is currently living in Dubai.

Durov not only has Kittitian citizenship, but this Russian billionaire was also recently naturalized in France. Besides being a global citizen, Durov is also known for his pure lifestyle. In 2017, on his 33rd birthday, the founder of VK shared on his personal page a list of all the things he gave up in favor of his physical and mental health. The list includes alcohol, nicotine, drugs, caffeine, fast food, sugar and watching TV.

As the father of Telegram

After being forced to leave both his company and his country, Durov focused on a new project, the encrypted messaging app Telegram. First launched in 2013, Telegram is known for its commitment to protecting user privacy and data. Since then, Telegram has flourished, becoming one of the largest messaging platforms worldwide.

The last two years have been impressive for Telegram when it was named the fastest growing app in 2021 when 70 million new users joined the app in October 2021.

Telegram has had many successful milestones since its launch in 2013.

Huge assets worth 15 billion USD

Thanks to the overwhelming success of Telegram, Durov’s net worth is listed by Forbes as around US$15.1 billion. This staggering number makes the app developer and tech pioneer the 112th richest person in the world in 2021.

Other accolades include being voted by Fortune magazine as one of the most influential people in business under the age of 40 in 2018 and being selected to participate in the Forum’s Young Global Leaders program. World economy.

Source: SCMP

According to Trang Thai