The creator of the Telegram (TON) messaging app is also behind several large-scale communication networks. This libertarian, sometimes nicknamed the “Russian Mark Zuckerberg,” takes a very strong position against censorship, to the point of attracting legal trouble in several countries. A look back at the career of an entrepreneur outside of executives and jurisdictions, who created one of the most widely used messaging services in the world.
Pavel Durov, a youth from Turin to Saint Petersburg
Born on October 10, 1984 in Saint Petersburg, Pavel Valerievich Durov is Russian.but his father's profession, a doctor of philology, led him to spend a large part of his childhood in Turin, Italy. On his mother's side, also a university professor, his family is well established in Ukraine.
Young Pavel Durov was interested in programming at an early age: it is said that he changed all the wallpapers in his school at the age of 11, causing him to be banned from accessing computers. But, already skilled in computers, he managed to hack passwords. Legend or proven fact, this in any case already shows a certain taste for the forbidden on the part of the future CEO of Telegram..
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After this childhood spent expatriated in Italy, Pavel Durov returned to Russia. He studied at the University of Saint Petersburg, where his father himself gave courses. Multilingual, he has learned many foreign languages. He is also pursuing a degree in philology and English translation.
At university, the future creator of Telegram was resistant to rules. He would later say that he never considered doing a “classic” job. :
“When I saw people going to work every day in a routine manner, I didn't imagine following that scenario for my own life. »
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First communication tools and creation of VKontakte
Pavel Durov proposed a first communication tool during his student years: the forum Spbgu.ru. Quickly adopted, it enjoyed some success in the academic world, but its creator saw the limits of this mode of discussion which promotes anonymity, because people use pseudonyms. Inspired by the premises of a US project, Facebook, he then decided to create a Russian equivalent: Vkontakte..
The initiative is launched in collaboration with his brother, Nikolai Durov. It is enjoying considerable success in Russia, where VKontakte is still widely used: it will be the largest social network in the territory in 2024.. As early as 2008, the number of Vkontakte users exceeded 20 million.
This first successful initiative made Pavel Durov rich: he would become a billionaire. From that moment on, he would sometimes be nicknamed the “Russian Mark Zuckerberg “. In 2023, his fortune was estimated at $11.5 billion by Forbes..
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Controversies and Pavel Durov's departure from Russia
Although he created the Russian equivalent of Facebook, Pavel Durov is already reluctant to censor communicationsIn 2011, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) ordered the CEO to block groups on VKontakte, which he refused. For these facts, he will have to explain himself to the public prosecutor the following year.
At the same time, Pavel Durov seems to be adopting a lavish lifestyle. In 2012, he distinguished himself by throwing 500-ruble notes out of the windows of VKontakte offices, which caused a major controversy in Russia. The following year, he was accused of hitting a traffic officer with his car who was signaling that he was going down the wrong path.
In 2014, Pavel Durov again took a stand against VKontakte surveillance. He claims that the FSB asked him to provide personal information about users of political groups linked to Ukrainewhich he refused. Tired of these difficulties, he then reached an agreement to sell his stake in the company.
From that moment on, Pavel Durov decided to leave Russia, where he felt restricted. He has not returned since:
“I fear there is no way back for me. Especially after I publicly refused to cooperate with the authorities. »
Pavel Durov's travels led him to acquire several nationalitiesIn addition to the citizenship of the Russian Federation, he has, as of 2024, the citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis, the United Arab Emirates and France.
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Telegram Messenger Launched
In 2013, Pavel Durov launched the Telegram messenger alongside his brother. In order to avoid government pressure in Russia, he established this new company in the British Virgin Islands.with registration as an LLC in Dubai.
Telegram deliberately keeps the location of its offices vague as it leaves. In 2014, she failed to obtain a residency agreement in Berlin and moved to other jurisdictions. At the time, Pavel Durov himself was said to be very mobile, changing locations regularly and taking around fifteen trusted developers with him. Since 2017, however, the Telegram company has been officially registered in Dubai.
Like VKontakte, Telegram is a success story for Durov, but this time it’s a success story that extends beyond Russia. In 2020, the app reached 400 million monthly active users worldwide. Its rise comes as major legacy messaging services, including Messenger, are increasingly criticized for their privacy lapses. According to Pavel Durov, as of March 2024, Telegram's monthly active users numbered 900 million..
Discovery of cryptocurrencies and creation of TON
Pavel Durov became interested in cryptocurrencies early. In 2018, he confirmed that Telegram would acquire a digital asset: the Gram. But he thus attracted the wrath of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which managed to put an end to the project. The development of the associated blockchain, The Open Network, was then entrusted to actors external to Telegram.
It would be several years before Telegram officially partnered with another cryptocurrency: Ton Coin (TON). At the same time, the messaging service becomes a platform in its own right and offers mini-applications. One of which is enjoying considerable success in 2024: Hamster Kombat. It is largely to Telegram that we owe the development of tap-to-earn, which is going so far as to worry the Russian authorities.
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Ton Coin has become a major development engine for Telegram. It is used to buy advertisements and pay the creators of the platform.Pavel Durov intends to create an entire financial ecosystem, seeing cryptocurrency as a way to make payments without using fiat currencies.
But in August 2024, Pavel Durov was arrested by the French authorities while he was at Le Bourget airport. A division for the protection of minors accuses him in particular of not having done enough to moderate illicit content on his messaging service.The 12 charges include facilitating drug trafficking, child pornography or other illegal activities.
The arrest of Pavel Durov raises a ubiquitous question about online services. Should the creator of a protocol be held responsible for its use by criminals? It will be up to the French courts to decide on the matter.
🎬 Dive into the Pavel Durov case through our recap video:
Pavel Durov, an original and libertarian career
A language scholar, communications enthusiast and self-confessed libertarian, Pavel Durov is sometimes controversial but has historically positioned himself in favor of the free flow of information.
The 'Russian Zuckerberg' has a broader legacy than just a social networkand its innovative integration of cryptocurrencies into a messaging service shows that it continues to innovate in these areas. To what extent? Its upcoming trial will partly determine that.
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