Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has disclosed plans to bequeath his estimated $17 billion fortune to his 106 biological children—but only beginning in 2055.
In an interview published Thursday by French magazine Le Point, the 40-year-old tech mogul explained that the delayed inheritance is intended to ensure his children develop independence before accessing his wealth.
“I wrote my will very recently,” Durov said. “I decided that my children would not have access to my fortune until a period of thirty years has elapsed, starting from today. I want them to live like normal people, to build themselves up alone, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create, not to be dependent on a bank account.”
Durov emphasized that all his children—whether conceived naturally or through sperm donation—will be treated equally in the inheritance plan. “I make no difference between my children… 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.”
According to Durov, six of the children were conceived naturally with three different women. The remaining children were conceived via anonymous sperm donations made over the past 15 years in clinics across 12 countries. “The clinic, where I started donating sperm fifteen years ago to help a friend, told me that more than 100 babies had been conceived this way in 12 countries,” he revealed.
With a net worth estimated by Bloomberg and Forbes between $17 billion and $17.1 billion, each child could inherit between $131 million and $161 million, depending on market fluctuations.
Durov’s revelation comes amid legal issues in France. In August 2024, he was detained at Bourget Airport near Paris after arriving from Azerbaijan on a private jet.
ADEOLA KUNLE
