
Pavel Durov
$17.07B
as of 07/14/25
About Pavel Durov
Pavel Durov is the founder and owner of messaging app Telegram, which has more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.
Telegram, which is free to use, competes with messaging apps like Facebook's WhatsApp.
Durov left Russia after refusing to cooperate with the secret service and provide encrypted data of his first social network's users. Telegram was banned in Russia from 2018 to 2021.
Durov became a French citizen in 2021 but lives in Dubai.
Durov, who has five children that he shares with two ex-girlfriends, has claimed to have donated sperm that led to him fathering 100 children.
Personal stats
Citizenship
United Arab EmiratesSource of wealth
Messaging appResidence
DubaiMarital status
SingleBirth date
10/10/84 (age 40)Number of children
5Education
Master of Science, Saint Petersburg State UniversitySelf-made
self-madePavel Durov’s fortune is worth

285K
troy ounces of gold

263K
median U.S. household

171K
median U.S. income

0.341%
U.S. credit card volume

0.068%
GDP of the United States

0.05%
United States debt
Net worth history
Annual ranking
Did you know?
Durov is known as Russia's Zuckerberg because he created Vkontakte, Russia's biggest social network, at age 22.
Net worth over time
Real-time ranking
Images © Forbes.com. All rights reserved.