Telegram founder Pavel Durov has said he plans to leave his fortune, estimated at about $13.9 billion, to more than 100 children he says he has fathered, most of them through sperm donation. He said all of them will inherit equally, but none will be able to access the money for 30 years.
Pavel Durov, the founder of the messaging app Telegram, has said he plans to divide his fortune, estimated at about $13.9 billion, among more than 100 children he says he has fathered, according to CBS News.
Durov, 40, lives in Dubai. He said in an interview with the French magazine Le Point that the children, including those conceived through sperm donation, would inherit equally. He also said none of them would be able to access the money until 30 years from now.
Why the 30-year wait
Durov said he wants the children to live like ordinary people and build their own lives without relying on inherited wealth. The long waiting period is meant to make sure they develop independently before receiving any money.
The approach mirrors how he has described running Telegram: privately funded and independent of outside investors. Telegram says it has more than 1 billion monthly users worldwide.
Legal case in France
Durov is under formal investigation in France over allegations that Telegram failed to do enough to prevent criminal activity on the platform. He has denied wrongdoing and has called the case unfounded.
Critics have urged Telegram to do more to police extremist groups and illegal marketplaces, while Durov has argued that the platform protects users’ privacy and free speech. Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing to hand over user data to authorities there.
The children
Durov has said he has six children with three partners. The rest, he said, were born through sperm donation, which he began about 15 years ago. He has never married.
The plan has drawn mixed reactions online, with some praising the decision to treat all of the children equally and others raising ethical and legal questions about donor-conceived heirs.
Telegram’s growth
Telegram continues to add features and remains one of the world’s most widely used messaging apps, used for everything from private chats to news channels and cryptocurrency communities.
Source: CBS News
