Telegram founder Pavel Durov recently became the subject of an astonishing viral claim that he intends to leave his estimated $13.9 billion fortune to over 100 children he purportedly fathered with various women.
According to the BBC, the quote, attributed to French political magazine Le Point, stated, "They are all my children and will all have the same rights! I don't want them to tear each other apart after my death."
The self-exiled Russian technology tycoon also told the magazine that his children would not have access to their inheritance for 30 years.
"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," he said.
Mr Durov said he was the "official father" of six children by three different partners, but 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."
According to BBC, the 40-year-old said he had written a will now because his job involved "risks – defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states".
Pavel Durov, often dubbed the "Mark Zuckerberg of Russia" before his self-imposed exile, built Telegram into a global powerhouse with over 900 million users. His personal life, however, remains shrouded in intense privacy.
Unlike many tech moguls, Durov famously lives a minimalist lifestyle, moving between countries, and rarely discusses his romantic relationships or family. He is known for his strict diet, lack of personal possessions, and singular focus on Telegram's development and the pursuit of digital freedom.
This established public persona stands in stark contrast to the image of a prolific father to over a hundred children.
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