Pavel Durov, a tech founder dubbed the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia, has said his insane wealth will be distributed between his 106 children.
Tech tycoon Pavel, now 40 years old, is the co-founder of Telegram, a messaging app that is highly controversial even by social media standards. It currently has over one billion monthly active users, and the success of the app is evident by Pavel’s insane $17 billion fortune. His tech journey began with the launch of Russia’s Facebook, VK, which he was forced to abandon in 2014 when he refused to cough up data on Ukrainian protestors. Being forced out of his country inspired the creation of Telegram, a secure messaging app, and he eventually settled in Dubai after attempts at making a home in Berlin, London and San Francisco.
In a new and exceedingly rare interview with France’s Le Point magazine, Pavel Durov revealed his intention to distribute his wealth among his 106 children.
“They are all my children and will all have the same rights,” he said. “I don’t want them to tear each other apart after my death.”
However, in a bid to prevent his offspring from turning into entitled nepo babies, Russia’s Elon Musk is withholding the funds for 30 years, explaining: “I want them to live like normal people, to build their lives on their own, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create – not to be dependent on a bank account.”
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So, how does Pavel Durov have so many children?
Though it wouldn’t be unusual for Pavel Durov to have fathered a small village’s worth of children – he is a billionaire after all – the reality is actually a lot more mundane. You see, Pavel is the “official father” of six children, with three different partners, and 100 other tots through sperm donation.
“I want to specify that I make no difference between my children: there are those who were conceived naturally and those who come from my sperm donations,” he said. “The others come from my anonymous donation. The clinic, where I started donating sperm fifteen years ago to help a friend, told me that more than 100 babies had been conceived this way in 12 countries.”
News of Pavel’s extra-curricular activities came to light last year when a Russian woman came forward to claim her three kids were fathered by Pavel through the sperm donation process. He has since visited with the family, with their mum Irina Bolgar posting pictures to Instagram.
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On why he’s written his will so early in his life, he added: “My work involves risks – defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states. I want to protect my children, but also the company I created, Telegram. I want Telegram to forever remain faithful to the values I defend.”
Though it’s yet to be seen how Pavel Durov will find his 100 other kids, after all, sperm donation records are private, he is a billionaire with resources that we mere mortals could not begin to comprehend. When the time comes to divvy up the funds, each kid could get $161.3 million in 30 years.
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Featured image credit: Pavel Durov/Irina Bolgar
