Telegram founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, has revealed that he plans to leave his nearly $20 billion in assets to his 106 children, of whom 100 were conceived through anonymous sperm donations, dividing the fortune equally among them.

Disclosing this revelation in an exclusive interview with French magazine The pointthe tech-mogul claimed that he had fathered these children via sperm bank donations across twelve different countries for over a decade. Durov emphasised that he refuses to distinguish between the offspring he raises and those born anonymously. In the interview, he candidly remarks, “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’s statement, each child will receive a share of the fortune, approximately $161 million as of his current net worth. However, despite his biologically egalitarian model of parenting, none of his children will be able to access their fortune until June 19, 2055, 30 years from the date of the announcement, a condition stipulated to prevent them from depending on inherited wealth and instead, to learn, “to live like normal people, to build themselves up alone, to learn to trust themselves, [and] to be able to create”, per his announcement on Wednesday.

The entrepreneur has been embroiled in controversies in the past, particularly his 2024 arrest in France in relation to the improper moderation of Telegram concerning criminal activity. Durov expressed his indignation at his charges in the interview, describing them as “totally absurd”. “Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn’t make those who run it criminals… Nothing has ever been proven showing that I am, even for a second, guilty of anything”, he asserts. Presently, he has been banned from leaving French territory as mandated by the court.

Born in Russia, but after multiple altercations with the government in connection with censoring and after being fired from VKontakte, in 2014, founded Telegram in 2013 and currently resides in Dubai, where Telegram is based, holding dual citizenship with France and the United Arab Emirates.