Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Russia's wanted list: Everything to know about his $6.6 billion net worth, 100+ children, and life in Dubai

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov has been charged by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) for allegedly facilitating terrorist activities, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS. The agency has launched procedures to place him on the international wanted list.

Soon after Russia's security service charged Pavel Durov, search terms like 'telegram CEO', 'Pavel Durov net worth', 'where does Pavel Durov live?' started appearing on Google Trends.

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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Net Worth

According to Forbes, in mid 2026, Pavel Durov’s net worth was at an estimated $6.6 billion, placing him among the world’s richest tech founders. The fortune of Durov reflects the massive global reach of Telegram, which now serves over a billion users worldwide.

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Much of his wealth comes from his ownership of the platform, and despite legal challenges and market ups and downs, Durov’s financial position remains strong as he continues to shape the future of secure communication and decentralized technology.

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In 2025, Pavel Durov had said he would share his estimated $13.9bn (£10.3bn) fortune to more than 100 children he has fathered. "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," Durov told French political magazine Le Point.

Who is Pavel Durov?

Born in Russia, the 41-year-old Pavel Durov is the founder and owner of the free-to-use messaging app that competes globally with platforms such as Meta's WhatsApp. Durov's father taught classical philology at Saint Petersburg State University, and Pavel spent part of his childhood in Turin, Italy, where his father held a visiting post.

He enrolled at Saint Petersburg State University in 2002 and graduated in 2006 with a degree in Philology, focused on English linguistics and translation, rather than a technical field.

When he was a student, Durov built online forums and small web projects for classmates. In 2006, he co-founded VKontakte, known as VK, with Ilya Perekopsky, modeling the site on Facebook for a Russian-speaking audience. VK grew past 100 million users and became the country’s leading social network, drawing comparisons to Mark Zuckerberg that have followed Durov since.

Pavel Durov's ties with Russian authorities deteriorated after the 2011 Duma election protests, when he refused a government request to remove opposition groups from VK. The pressure intensified in 2014 as officials demanded user data linked to Ukrainian protesters and sought the removal of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s VK page. In April that year, Durov was ousted as VK’s CEO, sold his remaining shares in the company, and left Russia.

In 2018, Russia started blocking Telegram after the app refused to comply with a court order to grant state security services access to its users' encrypted messages. Since leaving Russia, Durov has acquired French and Emirati citizenship. He moved himself and Telegram to Dubai in 2017.

Charges against Telegram CEO by Russia

Sputnik, attributing information to the FSB, reported that Russian authorities accused Telegram of failing to remove channels, chats and bots allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence services to coordinate terrorist attacks and mass-casualty operations inside Russia.

It further claimed that such activities had resulted in numerous fatalities, including women and children, and caused billions of dollars in material damage.

Sputnik also reported the FSB's allegation that Ukrainian operatives used Telegram's dating service to pose as young women, befriend Russian men and recruit them into carrying out terrorist activities.

Russia vs Telegram intensifies

In the past few years, Russia has intensified its crackdown on Telegram by imposing additional restrictions and continuing its criminal case against founder Pavel Durov. Telegram has denied any wrongdoing, accusing Russian authorities of using unfounded claims to justify restricting the platform and steering users toward the state-backed messaging app MAX.

Telegram says it has more than 1 billion users. It has become a critical source of information on Russia's war in Ukraine and is used widely by both Moscow and Kyiv officials. Some analysts have called the app "a virtual battlefield" for the conflict.

(With inputs from agencies)