Russian tech billionaire claims to have fathered 100 children

Telegraph

5 hours ago

As birth rates around the world tumble, one Russian technology tycoon is doing his best to reverse the trend.
Pavel Durov, the entrepreneur behind controversial messaging app Telegram claims he has fathered more than 100 children and has promised to split his fortune between them equally when he dies.
Mr Durov, the 40-year-old social media and cryptocurrency entrepreneur, said he would divide his estimated $14bn (£10bn) wealth between his biological children and dozens of others conceived through sperm donations. Mr Durov has six children by three partners but has fathered many more through donations.
Mr Durov said in a rare interview he had recently written a will that would provide $170m to each of his children.
'I wrote my will very recently,' he told France's Le Point magazine. 'I decided that my children would not have access to my fortune until a period of 30 years has elapsed.
'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.
'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. They are all my children and will all have the same rights.'
Mr Durov has previously said he had been donating sperm for 15 years and is now the father of 100 children in 12 countries.
Last year, a clinic in Moscow began advertising its supply of Mr Durov's sperm and offering free IVF for women willing to have a child with 'one of the most famous and successful entrepreneurs of our time'.
The AltraVita clinic said: 'Pavel Durov is willing to finance all the IVF protocols that use his sperm. It is a very generous contribution to society from someone who wants to help those dreaming of becoming parents.'
Mr Durov's 100 children rank him among the world's top sperm donors, though he is not the most prolific. Jonathan Jacob Meijer, a Dutch YouTuber, reportedly fathered 1,000 children, according to Netflix, although he insists it is only 550.
Mr Durov is not the only technology entrepreneur to advocate having a large number of children. Elon Musk is reported to have at least 14 children, who he has referred to as his 'legion' and has pushed 'smart people' to have more offspring.
'A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilisation faces by far,' Mr Musk said in 2022.
In the US, a 'pro-natalist' movement has emerged amongst conservatives urging people to have more children in order to tackle declining birth rates. 'I want more babies in the United States of America,' JD Vance said in his first address as vice president in January.
Mr Durov founded VKontakte, known as Russia's Facebook, before he left the business and Russia under pressure from the Kremlin in 2014. He later founded Telegram, an encrypted messaging app used by more than 1bn people, as well as a cryptocurrency.
Telegram has repeatedly faced criticism for its light-touch content moderation and last year Mr Durov was charged in France with complicity in spreading child abuse online and allowing drug trafficking. He has denied the charges and told Le Point they were 'totally absurd'.
Mr Durov runs Telegram, which only has around 50 staff, from Dubai, although since his arrest in France he has been barred from leaving the country. Born in the Soviet Union, he now has French and Emirati citizenship.
Despite his vast paper fortune, he is known for his minimalist lifestyle, strict diet and veganism. He told Le Point he did not own a 'house, yacht or private jet', although he enjoyed staying in 'beautiful hotels'.
The billionaire is also fitness guru. He told Le Point he begins his day with 300 push-ups and 300 squats and posts videos to his Instagram of his ice baths.
His arrest last August at Le Bourget airport fractured a previously friendly relationship with the French state. Mr Durov's French citizenship application was fast-tracked by Emmanuel Macron, an active Telegram user, who had previously personally spoken with the billionaire over the app.
Speaking to Le Point, Mr Durov said he was 'interrogated relentlessly' for four days after his arrest and left in a small cell on a concrete bed, which was kept constantly lit. He said he had been 'very disappointed' with Mr Macron's leadership and described France as a 'Potemkin village'.