Five Things You Need to Know About Pavel Durov ❓🥇
⭐️He is the Founder of Telegram. Pavel Durov, a 39-year-old Russian native, is the founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram. This free platform competes with other social networks like WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat. Telegram aims to surpass one billion active monthly users within the year. It has significant influence in Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet republics, becoming a key source of information on the Russia-Ukraine war and widely used by officials on both sides. Some analysts describe the app as a ”virtual battlefield.”
⭐️He Values Freedom Above All Else. ”I’d rather be free than follow orders,” Pavel Durov told American journalist Tucker Carlson. Proof of this is his departure from Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition groups on VKontakte. He eventually sold the social network and left his home country. Since then, Russian and French media have claimed that Durov became a French citizen in 2021.
⭐️He Launched His Encrypted Messaging Service Under Pressure from Russian Authorities. In a rare interview last April in Dubai, Pavel Durov shared how the idea for launching an encrypted messaging service came to him after facing intense pressure from Russian authorities during his time at VKontakte. He later attempted to establish his company in Berlin, London, Singapore, and San Francisco before settling in Dubai in 2017, where he appreciated the business conditions and ”neutrality.”
⭐️A Billionaire Who Doesn’t Value Physical Assets. According to Forbes, Durov’s net worth is estimated at $15.5 billion.
However, in his April interview with Tucker Carlson, the billionaire assured that, apart from money or bitcoins, he owns no significant assets like real estate, planes, or yachts due to his desire to remain free.
⭐️He Stands Against American Tech Giants. Durov sees Apple and Google not only as competitors but primarily as the biggest threats to free speech. ”These two platforms can censor everything you can read and all the information you can access on your smartphone,” he stated in the American press.
⚠️ And now, Pavel Durov faces up to 20 years in prison in France. He will soon stand trial as a French citizen, according to TF1 television channel.🔥
#freedurov #freepavel