Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, plans to leave his money to all his offspring – conceived out of ‘civic duty’
Pavel Durov is a Russian-born billionaire whose interests include doing half-naked photoshoots with baby goats and having lots and lots of (human) kids. The 40-year-old billionaire founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram revealed last year– in a post on his own app – that while he isn’t married and prefers to live alone, he has over 100 biological children in 12 countries via sperm donation.
Durov’s reproductive choices made headlines again this week after the tech tycoon told the French political magazine Le Point that he is going to leave his fortune, estimated at almost $14bn, to all of his children. Durov has six children he fathered naturally with three different partners as well as the children he has via sperm donation.
“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,” he told Le Point.
What possessed Durov, who was charged last year in France over allegations that Telegram is being used for illicit activity, to populate the world with so many mini-mes? (He has denied failing to cooperate with authorities and Telegram has denied having poor moderation.) Well, like Elon Musk and a number of other tech types, Durov is a pronatalist who is worried about global fertility rates declining. He’s chosen to take a hands-on approach to tackling the issue, funding free IVF treatments for women at AltraVita IVF Clinic in Moscow for anyone who uses his sperm. If you’re interested, and I’m sure that a lot of people will be now that Durov has laid out the terms of his will, he’s still got sperm on ice at the clinic.
