Legit.ng journalist, Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon, has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

Telegram Founder, Pavel Durov, has disclosed how his $17.1 billion fortune will be shared by his children after his death.

He noted that all his children have equal rights to his fortune, and his wealth would be distributed equally to them.

The billionaire said even though he was the biological father to six children with three different partners, he had over 100 children.

The 40-year-old explained that he began donating reproductive material fifteen years ago, and was told by the clinic that over 100 children had been conceived across 12 countries using it.

He added that he wrote the will in advance due to the risks associated with his role as the founder and CEO of Telegram. His words:

“Defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states."

According to the Russian-born entrepreneur, the wealth will be distributed equally among all the children.

However, Durov revealed that the children would not be allowed to access the inheritance for 30 years, to encourage them to build their own lives first.

He explained:

"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."

Forbes estimates that the billionaire is worth $17.1 billion as of June 23, 2025. He now holds multiple citizenships, including France, where he faced charges, and the United Arab Emirates, where he lives.

With over one billion monthly active users, Telegram is focused on privacy and encrypted messaging, according to BBC News.

The app has faced several charges, including criminal charges against Durov in France in 2024. The charges claim he failed to moderate the app to prevent illegal activities, such as drug trafficking and fraud.

Speaking in an interview with French magazine Le Point, Durov said:

"Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn't make those who run it criminals."

He founded the app in 2013 and, since then, Telegram has grown in popularity, particularly due to its ability to allow groups of up to 200,000 members.

This feature gives it an edge over messaging apps like Facebook’s WhatsApp. However, this feature is part reason the app has been accused of allowing a wider spread of misinformation and terror-related content.

Telegram has defended itself against these accusations, explaining the steps it takes to prevent criminality on the app.

The app removed channels found to be sharing calls for violence and other illegal content. An excerpt from the website reads:

In an earlier report by Legit.ng, Durov detailed his early journey and how he fathered over 100 children. He began coding at a young age, and by 2006, as a fresh college graduate, he launched Vkontakte (VK).

It soon became the Facebook of Russia and thrived until Ukrainian protesters were reported to have used VK to organise against their pro-Russian president in 2013. The Kremlin came knocking, demanding access to user data, but Durov declined and was forced to leave Russia.

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Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng