Telegram CEO targeted

Who is Pavel Durov – and why is he in prison?

Archive image: Durov's messenger Telegram has been a thorn in the side of the authorities in various countries for years - in Russia it was temporarily blocked in 2018, which led to protests.(Bild: AFP/AFP or licensors)

He has four nationalities, is worth 15.5 billion dollars - and is a thorn in the side of the powerful in East and West alike. At the weekend, the head of the popular smartphone messenger Telegram, Pavel Durov (39), was arrested in Paris. Krone+ explains what makes the publicity-shunning billionaire tick and why he is now in prison.

Durov and his brother Nikolai were born into a family of scientists in 1984 and 1980 in Leningrad, which is now called St. Petersburg again. The father, a linguist, worked and lived with the family in Italy for a time, while the sons received their education in St. Petersburg - and showed great talent at an early age. Nikolai won gold medals at international mathematics Olympiads and became a programmer, while Pavel decided to become an entrepreneur after completing his education at the University of St. Petersburg and founded the "Russian Facebook" VKontakte (VK) in 2006. He was quickly regarded as the "Russian Zuckerberg" - but he didn't last long in Russia.