Russian tech bro Pavel Durov founded Telegram with his brother in 2013, a messaging app that boasts end-to-end encryption, making communications secure. But because we live in #WorstTimeline, that key feature has also made Telegram the top choice for nefarious actors like terrorists and PDFiles. So Durov was arrested in France last August (where he’s a citizen) for his liability in enabling crimes to be plotted on his platform. Oh, and another fun fact about Durov: he’s fathered 106 children thanks to 15 years of sperm donations. So while sitting around at home out on bail waiting to see if he’s convicted of crimes, Durov gave an interview to the French publication Le Point. What news did he want to telegraph to le monde? That he plans on leaving his estimated $17.1 billion fortune to all 106 of his offspring, equally. According to my calculations, courtesy of Google, that’s roughly $161,320,754.72 per kid. Holy merde!

Pavel Durov is leaving a special message in his family group chat.

The Telegram founder recently revealed that he’s dividing his massive fortune—an estimated $17.1 billion, per Forbes—between all 106 of his children.

“I want to specify that I make no difference between my children: There are those who were conceived naturally and those who come from my sperm donations,” Durov, 40, told French outlet Le Point in an interview published June 19. “They are all my children and will all have the same rights. I don’t want them to tear each other apart after my death.”

Indeed, the Russian tech mogul explained that he’s the “official father” of six children from three different partners. Meanwhile, he decided to “help a friend” by becoming a sperm donor nearly 15 years ago, resulting in him fathering 100 kids across 12 countries.

And while he wants to spread his wealth equally, his children will have to wait a while for their share. In fact, Durov—who launched Telegram, a cloud-based messaging app, alongside his brother Nikolai Durov in 2013—noted his offspring will not have access to their inheritances until “30 years” after the day of his interview with the French publication.

“I want them to live like normal people,” he continued, “to build themselves up alone, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create, not to be dependent on a bank account.”

This revelation comes months after the billionaire was arrested and charged in France with enabling illegal crimes, ranging from child sex abuse material and drug trafficking, to occur on his platform last August. While Durov is out on bail, he faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according to the New York Times.

[From E! News]

“He decided to ‘help a friend’ by becoming a sperm donor nearly 15 years ago, resulting in him fathering 100 kids across 12 countries.” I feel like we’re still missing some vital information, to put it mildly. How does “helping a friend” (WHY is that in quotes?) result in 100 kids in a dozen countries? It doesn’t! There are several very consequential, Durov-initiated decisions that had to have happened between helping out that friend 15 years ago, to him spawning over 100 kids today. And I bet they looked something like this notice Durov issued in November 2024 (so post-arrest), about him “offering to cover the cost of IVF treatment for interested, healthy women under the age of 38 who will use his sperm to have a baby using the Altra Vita IVF clinic, which claims it has the exclusive right to store and use his biomaterial.” Hmmm, I wonder why someone facing charges is looking to broadcast how benevolent he intends to be — 30 years down the line — to the 100+ kids he’s biologically fathered but legally has no familial relationship to… And speaking of, what’s with the 30 years stipulation? That puts him at 70, which he has a fair shot of outliving, not to mention the fact that a lot can happen in 30 years. I’m just imagining a Knives Out-on-steroids situation where he ends up cutting everyone off. We can meet back here in three decades to see if I’m right.

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