Editor’s note by The Insider: the author of the book calls Pavel Durov a “totem,” explaining this in Durov’s own words:
When they asked Durov what he saw himself doing in the future, he broke the silence and said, smiling, "Totem.” His desires, passions and skills had converged to shape this vision. Everything uninteresting and unnecessary had been eliminated. Those around him dismissed his words as a joke, but the formula determined everything that happened in his life thereafter. 'I want to become an Internet totem.'
I met Durov for the last time in Russia in January 2014; he fled a month later. We set off on foot from Singer House, heading for one of St. Petersburg's most luxurious restaurants, Terrace. Durov was dressed all in black, wearing padded trainers and a baseball cap similar to those worn by Kendall Roy in Succession.
As always, Totem was unrecognisable on the crowded Nevsky Prospect, but everything else had changed.
Durov had already launched Telegram and was rapidly gaining millions of users. He had also sold his stake in VK. Although he was still in charge of the social network, he made no secret of the fact that he would be resigning within a month or two.
