Pavel Durov

Pavel Valeryevich Durov ( born 10 October 1984) is a Russian-born French-Kittitian–Emirati entrepreneur.  He started the social networking site VK and the app Telegram Messenger. He is the younger brother of Nikolai Durov. In 2024 his net worth is estimated at $11.5bn billion. In 2022, he was the richest person in the United Arab Emirates, according to Forbes. In February 2023, Arabian Business named him the most powerful entrepreneur in Dubai.

He left St Petersburg after he refused to share the data of some Ukrainian users of VK with Russia’s security agency, the FSB. He has been called  a freedom fighter with coding ingenuity.

For some years after  2014, the Durov brothers travelled the world in self-imposed exile as citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

In 2017, Pavel joined the World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders as a representative of Finland. Durov was naturalized as French in August 2021 and now has European Union citizenship.

 2024 arrest 

Durov was arrested on 24 August, 2024, in Paris, after landing at Le Bourget Airport by the French National Police. Earlier it was reported that Durov and his brother Nikolai were targeted by France.

One of the charges against Durov carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 euros. After issuing formal charges, Durov was released on bail and barred from leaving French territory until the case was resolved. It is said that Durov had previously avoided traveling to Europe due to potential legal risks.

References

Category:1984 births
Category:Living people
Category:Russian businesspeople
Category:Emirati people
Category:Russian computer scientists
Category:People from Saint Petersburg