Who is Pavel Durov: Everything you need to know about the Telegram founder arrested in France

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France on Saturday night amid investigations into the lack of moderators on the messaging app. The Russian embassy in France demanded that Pavel Durov be granted consular access and his rights be protected. The embassy said that France has so far “avoided any engagement” regarding Pavel Durov’s situation. Here’s everything you need to know about Pavel Durov:

1. The 39-year-old Russian-born billionaire is the founder and CEO of Telegram with an estimated net worth of around $15.5 billion.

2. Pavel Durov’s journey began in 2006 with the creation of VKontakte, the Russian version of Facebook, which became the largest social networking site in the country.

3. In 2014, Pavel Durov left Russia after refusing to comply with demands to close opposition networks on VKontakte.

4. At that time he sold his share in the company and in 2013 Pavel Durov launched Telegram.

5. The app already has hundreds of millions of users worldwide and is expected to reach one billion monthly active users in the coming year.

6. The app is popular in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet states.

7. In 2018, Russia attempted to ban Telegram after Pavel Durov refused to give state security officials access to users’ encrypted messages, sparking protests and criticism from NGOs.

8. After Pavel Durov left Russia, he chose Dubai as Telegram’s headquarters.

9. Pavel Durov obtained French citizenship in 2021 and reportedly also holds United Arab Emirates citizenship.