The billionaire founder of Telegram has revealed he's the father of over 100 kids. Pavel Durov shared that he's planning on splitting his $13.9 billion equally amongst his kids, hoping to avoid any fights.
"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," said Durov to the French magazine Le Point.
Durov provided further clarification, revealing that he is the "official father" of six kids with three different partners. The remaining dozens of children were fathered at some point earlier in his life, "where I started donating sperm fifteen years ago to help a friend," he said.
He was told that "more than 100 babies had been conceived this way in 12 countries." It's unknown if he truly will be splitting his billions with kids he's never met before, but he did reveal that he wants his kids to not have access to their fortune until they're at least 30 years old.
"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.
More details about Telegram
Telegram was founded by Durov in 2013, and has become one of the most secure apps for transmitting encrypted messages. As of this writing, the app has over a billion monthly users.
Durov is currently based in Dubai, which serves as the headquarters for the company. In past years, the app has faced some legal issues due to criminals turning to its services for illegal activities, with cybersecurity experts claiming that extremist content is difficult to regulate due to its high encryption levels.
"Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn't make those who run it criminals," said Durov.
He joins a short but interesting list of wealthy men who are interested in fathering dozens of kids, including Elon Musk, who's the father of 11 known kids, and Nick Cannon, who's fathered 12.