Telegram founder revealed he has over 100 children around the world before arrest
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch/Nadine Rupp/Getty Images
The founder of Telegram once revealed he has over 100 biological children across the world before his arrest over the weekend.
Pavel Durov, the founder of the popular messaging app, was detained in France as part of an ongoing judicial investigation.
Durov - who has lived in Russian exile since 2014 - has often been referred to as the Russian Mark Zuckerberg for his long-running work in the social media space.
Over the past few years, Durov has ran Telegram from Dubai, while also travelling regularly throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
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However, the 39-year-old was arrested on Saturday due to alleged insufficient moderation on Telegram.
French President Emmanuel Macron stated on Monday the arrest was 'in no way a political decision'.
"The arrest of the Telegram president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation," Macron wrote on Twitter.
"This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide."
French prosecutors have since lifted the lid on the situation, stating the investigation and subsequent arrest is related to a probe on cyber and financial crimes allegedly happening on Telegram.
Following the arrest, a message to the Telegram account on the app read: "It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.
"We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation."
Last month, Durov made quite the statement with a post on Telegram, claiming he has over 100 children.
He wrote: "I was just told that I have over 100 biological kids.
"Fifteen years ago, a friend of mine approached me with a weird request. He said that he and his wife couldn’t have kids due to a fertility issue and asked me to donate sperm at a clinic for them to have a baby."
Tech mogul added: "The boss of the clinic told me that ‘high quality donor material’ was in short supply and that it was my civic duty to donate more sperm to anonymously help more couples... Fast forward to 2024, my past donating activity has helped over a hundred couples in 12 countries to have kids. "Moreover, many years after I stopped being a donor, at least one IVF clinic still has my frozen sperm available for anonymous use by families who want to have kids."
The tech guru went on to say he plans on making his DNA 'open-source' so his biological children can find each other more easily.
Telegram is an encrypted social media and messaging app with an estimated user base of upwards of one billion. The app is known for being particularly popular in areas of the world known where there is more censorship or surveillance.