Telegram founder has a shocking plan for his $17B fortune and 106 kids
Telegram's Pavel Durov to split $17B with 106 kids—100 via sperm donation, none get access till 2055.
Telegram Founder, Pavel Durov
By Anushka Basu
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has come up with a rather unusual succession plan: divide his fortune of $17.1 billion among six of his biological children, and 100 more he has fathered with sperm donations over the past 15 years.
In an article in France's Le Point, the billionaire, 40, stated that his will considers all 106 children equally, regardless of whether they are biological or not.
"They are all my children and will all have the same rights", he said.
Yet Durov has put a twist on the story: none of his heirs can access the money for 30 years. "I want them to live like normal people [and] not to be dependent on a bank account".
Durov's private life has also gotten some attention. The mother of three of his children has lodged multiple complaints, alleging financial neglect, underplaying a hidden double life, and even child abuse.
Durov has denied all allegations.
"Nothing has ever been proven showing that I am, even for a second, guilty of anything. But it seems I'm already being punished at this stage through the ban on leaving the territory" he said.
Durov, hostile to the Kremlin, had a significant conflict with Russian authorities when he refused to disable (or otherwise limit) access to several dissident groups on VKontakte, which he co-founded.
Durov now lives in Dubai after legal troubles in France and an international saga and years of drama, arrests, and censorship, with Telegram's communications application's alleged role in world conflict.
Telegram's user base exceeds 1 billion users and has risen to prominence as a vital communication tool in numerous conflict zones, but it has also become a haven for extremist groups. It also has cryptocurrency ambitions.
What about his crypto holdings?
While Durov’s succession plan has grabbed headlines, it raises new questions about what happens to his massive crypto holdings. Though the exact amount remains undisclosed, Durov is widely believed to be one of the largest holders of TON (The Open Network), the blockchain project he once helped create. With TON's growing footprint in crypto, his stake could be worth billions — yet it's unclear whether this will be split equally among his 106 heirs, or held under separate terms.
Durov’s association with TON dates back to 2018, when Telegram launched the project as a bold attempt to create a decentralized internet. However, the U.S. SEC quickly cracked down on the token sale, calling it an unregistered securities offering. Telegram was eventually forced to abandon the project in 2020 after a legal settlement, though development continued under the community. Despite officially distancing himself, Durov has continued to support TON, and Telegram later re-embraced it as the default blockchain for its Web3 features.
A financial super app
Telegram made a formal announcement in September 2023 that it was adopting TON as its preferred blockchain for the development of Web3 features, such as tokenized payments, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Now, a new TON-based mini-app called Affluent intends to change Telegram into a financial super-app. Affluent is a smart bank for crypto that embeds lending pools and yield tools into the Telegram app.
Its purpose is to simplify decentralized finance (DeFi) for retail users and provide sticky liquidity for institutions. This puts Telegram in the center of the next big fintech war.
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