The site brought him fame: He became known as Russia's 'biggest celebrity entrepreneur,' per The New York Times. The site brought him fame and money - but it also made him a target of the Kremlin.ĭurov created the network in 2006 and went on to sell a 12% stake in the company for $300 million in 2015. Much of Durov's wealth comes from Telegram, which has 700 million active users and is valued at $30 billion.ĭurov did not reply to Insider's requests for comment for this story.īefore founding Telegram, Durov founded a Russian social network called Vkontakte. Durov spoke at the conference in January 2012.

The brothers were born into a family of intellectuals, according the Digital-Life-Design Conference website. The tech entrepreneur cofounded encrypted-messaging service Telegram with his brother Nikolai in 2013. Petersburg in Soviet Russia, has a net worth of $15.1 billion, per Forbes.

Tatan Syuflana/APĭurov, who was born in St. Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov, center, smiles following his meeting with Indonesian Communication and Information Minister Rudiantara in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2017.

Pavel durov