Pavel Durov facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pavel Durov
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| Павел Дуров | |
Durov in 2012
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| Born | 10 October 1984 Leningrad, Soviet Union
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| Other names | Paul du Rove |
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| Alma mater | Saint Petersburg State University (BA) |
| Known for | Co-founding of VK and Telegram |
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| Children | 5 |
| Parent(s) |
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| Relatives | Nikolai Durov (brother) |
Pavel Valeryevich Durov (Russian: Павел Валерьевич Дуров; born 10 October 1984) is an entrepreneur from Russia, France, and the United Arab Emirates. He is famous for co-founding two very popular online platforms: VK, a social networking site, and Telegram Messenger, a secure messaging app.
Pavel Durov is a very wealthy person. In 2023, he was listed among the world's billionaires by Forbes magazine. His wealth mainly comes from owning Telegram. He is recognized as one of the richest people living in the United Arab Emirates. In 2023, he was also named a powerful entrepreneur in Dubai.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Pavel Durov was born in Leningrad, which was part of the Soviet Union at the time. He spent much of his childhood in Turin, Italy, because his father worked there. In 2006, he finished his studies at the Saint Petersburg State University. He earned a top degree from the Philology Department, which focuses on language and literature.
Career
VK Social Network
While he was at university, Pavel Durov created a popular online forum. In 2006, he met his old classmate, Vyacheslav Mirilashvili. Vyacheslav showed him Facebook, which was becoming very popular. This inspired Pavel and his friends to create a new social network for Russia.
Pavel Durov became the CEO of this new company. He also got his older brother, Nikolai Durov, to help. Nikolai is very good at math and programming.
The new social network, called VKontakte, started testing in September 2006. Soon after, its website address, Vkontakte.ru, was registered. The company officially started in January 2007. VK grew very quickly! By July 2007, it had 1 million users. By April 2008, it had 10 million users. In December 2008, VK became the most popular social network in Russia. The company grew to be worth a lot of money.
In 2013, Pavel Durov sold some of his shares in VK. Later, these shares were bought by a company called Mail.ru Group.
Leaving VK
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In April 2014, Pavel Durov left his role as CEO of VK. He had some disagreements about how the company should handle user information and content. Because of these disagreements, he decided to leave Russia and said he would not return.
Telegram Messaging App
After leaving Russia, Pavel Durov focused on his next big project: Telegram. This new company created a messaging service known for its strong encryption, which means messages are kept very private and secure. Telegram was first based in Berlin and later moved its headquarters to Dubai.
In 2018, Durov tried to launch a new digital currency called "Gram" and a platform called TON. He raised a lot of money from investors for this project. However, the project was stopped by regulators in the United States because of rules about how new currencies can be launched. The money had to be returned to investors.
Later, in 2018, Russia tried to block Telegram because the company would not share user data with Russian security services. Despite these attempts, Telegram managed to keep working and was not blocked in Russia after two years.
Views
Pavel Durov is a vegetarian. He believes in living a simple life and not owning too many things.
For his 27th birthday in 2011, he gave a large donation to the Wikimedia Foundation, which supports projects like Wikipedia.
Personal Life
Pavel Durov's grandfather, Semyon Petrovich Tulyakov, was a soldier in World War II. He fought in many battles and was wounded several times. He received many awards for his bravery.
Pavel's father, Valery Semenovich Durov, is a professor who writes academic papers about language. He has been a department head at Saint Petersburg State University since 1992. Pavel has also mentioned that his mother's family comes from Kyiv, Ukraine, and he has many relatives there.
Pavel's younger brother is Nikolai Durov. Nikolai helped Pavel create Telegram and was the main developer and programmer for the project.
Pavel Durov is not married. He lives in Dubai. He has also become a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis, France, and the United Arab Emirates. This means he has European Union citizenship.
Accolades
Pavel Durov has sometimes been called the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia, comparing him to the founder of Facebook. In 2014, he was named a promising young leader in Northern Europe. In 2017, he was chosen to join the Young Global Leaders, a group of influential young people from around the world.
In 2018, Fortune magazine included Durov in their "40 Under 40" list. This list recognizes the most influential young people in business.
In February 2023, Arabian Business magazine named Durov the most powerful entrepreneur in Dubai.
