Pavel Durov’s Radical Inheritance Plan
Here’s something you don’t hear every day—a tech billionaire with a plan straight out of a modern-day fairy tale or, depending on your view, a soap opera. Pavel Durov, the 40-year-old founder and face of Telegram, just announced that his massive fortune—nearly $14 billion—won’t end up in the hands of just a few kids with glamorous last names. Instead, he’s decided to split it among more than 100 children whom he fathered through sperm donations across a dozen countries. That’s not a misprint. Over Pavel Durov’s lifetime, he’s quietly ensured his legacy winds across continents, families, and bloodlines.
Officially, Durov is the father of six, sharing them with three different partners. But in a unique twist, there’s a much larger, less conventional family network, and he wants all of them—no matter whether they were raised together or apart—to stand on equal footing. In an interview with the French magazine Le Point, Durov put it bluntly: he wants to avoid ugly family inheritance dramas down the road. So, everyone gets the same rights, the same shot at a share.
The Long Game: Waiting for Their Inheritance
Here’s the catch: none of these children will be able to touch the inheritance for 30 years. Durov insists it’s for their own good. He wants them to learn how to build something on their own, not just live off his billions. Growing up as a billionaire’s child can easily put a target on your back—or worse, leave you feeling entitled to wealth you never earned. So these kids will have to fly solo for decades before seeing a cent.
Durov’s decision isn’t purely about money. There’s also a constant background buzz of risk. He said he finalized his will recently because defending freedom online and running one of the world’s most-used messaging apps can make powerful enemies—think governments, intelligence agencies, and lobbyists. Suddenly, making sure your wealth and your values survive you isn’t just smart; it’s a necessity.
On top of all this soap opera-worthy family planning, Durov’s also contending with legal storms. Back in August 2023, Paris police arrested him on accusations that Telegram hadn’t done enough to stop illegal activity—drug deals, child abuse images, that kind of thing. Durov bluntly dismissed the allegations, calling them absurd. He says Telegram’s mission is to stay neutral and let people speak freely—whether during peaceful times or moments of war, like the Ukraine conflict.
Telegram, with a user base north of a billion each month, sits front and center in debates about online safety, free speech, and government pressure. Durov doesn’t shy from controversy. For him, keeping Telegram’s doors open to everybody means letting people speak—even if it ruffles feathers in high places. And the way he plans to handle his inheritance? It’s just another way of putting independence, fairness, and real freedom above the typical billionaire playbook.
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