Telegram’s billionaire founder has 100+ kids: This is his $17 billion plan for all of them

Pavel Durov, the founder of instant messaging app Telegram, has revealed his estimated $17 billion fortune will be shared equally among his children, which only seems fair. However, considering the technology tycoon claims to have fathered more than 100 kids, the divvying up process will likely prove more complicated than it might seem at first glance.

The self-exiled Russian, who now lives in Dubai and is a dual citizen of both the United Arab Emirates and France, says he is the “official father” of six children but has also helped bring over 100 more babies into the world as a sperm donor. “The clinic where I started donating sperm 15 years ago to help a friend told me that more than 100 babies had been conceived this way in 12 countries.”

Durov writes will due to “many powerful enemies”

Durov insists that all of those who share his DNA will be entitled to a share of his fortune. At its current value, his offspring - “official” and “unofficial” - would receive somewhere in the region of $150 million each.

“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,” he told Le Point, a French political magazine.

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

Durov, 40, claims he has already written a will because his job involves “many risks” and “many enemies, including within powerful states”.

How much is Telegram worth?

The billionaire, who claims not to use a phone, founded Telegram in 2013, since when it has amassed more than a billion monthly active users and is estimated to be worth approximately $30 billion.

It hasn’t gone without controversy, however.

Durov was arrested in France last year after being accused of failing to properly moderate the app to reduce criminality. Telegram has been criticized for having insufficient moderation in general and for the ease with which it allows misinformation to spread.

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