I remember, right after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when Russian citizens claimed that their access to most social media platforms and messaging apps was cut off or strongly discouraged by the Kremlin. The Kremlin basically told everyone that they could only use Telegram, a messaging app developed by shadowy Russian tech billionaire Pavel Durov. I’ve never used Telegram, although I’ve heard stories about how it’s grown in popularity with Europeans and Russians. Well, over the weekend, Pavel Durov was arrested in France for all of the criminal sh-t being done by Telegram’s users. This is a huge story in Europe and Russia and it’s a huge story for any tech billionaire who believes he should not be held liable for what happens on his platform (cough cough Elon Musk cough). So I was reading this CNN story about Durov and did you know this guy claims to have 100 children??
Pavel Durov is a lot of things to a lot of people. Programming prodigy. Billionaire entrepreneur. Kremlin stooge. Free-speech fighter. Biological father to at least 100 kids.
Durov, the elusive founder of Telegram who was detained in France over the weekend, cuts the figure of a mysterious, globe-trotting tech bro with Mark Zuckerberg’s prodigiousness, Jack Dorsey’s bizarre lifestyle habits and Elon Musk’s libertarian streak – plus a similar obsession with pronatalism and fathering children. Durov said in July that he had fathered more than 100 children thanks to sperm donations he had made over the past 15 years.
Worth an estimated $9.15 billion according to Bloomberg and armed with an array of passports and residences, Durov has for a decade lived a life without borders, a man on an often-shirtless journey to secure the freedom of communication from the prying eyes of governments, democratically elected or otherwise.
Now, Durov’s legal trouble is drudging up an old debate, pitting Telegram’s end-to-end encryption, which keeps communications between users secure even from the company’s employees, against the security concerns of various governments and the European Union’s campaign to rein in big tech.
Durev built Telegram back when Mark Zuckerberg bought WhatsApp, because Durev didn’t think anything on the market was good enough. Telegram’s double-blind encryption system means that it’s the messaging app of choice for terrorists, despots, coup plotters and, as always, pedophiles. And of course this guy is a “pronatalist.” That’s in the grand tradition of creepy, shadowy, authoritarian-supporting tech billionaires being obsessed with repopulating the earth with their “seed.” I can’t believe sperm banks let this guy donate that much. Ew. I really hope he doesn’t have that many children out there. It’s some Boys From Brazil bullsh-t.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
WTAF. Men are for the most part, extremely destructive.
Excellent! Let all the tech titans know you can be criminally convicted for facilitating the worst crimes imaginable by refusing to monitor content and control access to your platforms. I wonder if this is going to put a hitch in Elno’s yachting plans for the year?
He became a French citizen in 2021 so as to be able to live + work anywhere in the European Union, therefore his arrest in France is bad news for him because he can be judged like any locals.
There’s some speculation that he did that as a sort of insurance because France doesn’t extradite their own citizens. It MAY have been a choice between French legal custody and defenestration or polonium tea.
❤️
No wonder Elno likes him, that’s all I’ve got. Ugh. I bet he defected and the arrest is a cover. Putin’s days are numbered.
I just thought he looks like lionel messi on that pic
Oh, as a sperm donor. I first thought he actually had so many girlfiriends/one-night-stands. For a person of his money and influence that wouldn’t be impossible.
there’s a whole cult around white guys who are mega sperm donors. They’re disgusting (not to mention white supremacists). One guy in particular was featured in Netflix documentary “The man with a 1000 kids” but they do reference some of the others at the end (one of the nastiest guys was on TLC reality shows)
Do you need to be rich and white to donate sperm? I honestly don’t know, I thought anyone who wants to do it can do it, many times. Also, how many children can be produced from one donated session?
I know these rich men boast about their potential children, but I imagine all men who donated sperm can reach this number easily – in theory.
Pretty soon, all White people will be inbred.
@Pottymouth yes! These white tech billionaires who father a zillion children are white supremacist social Darwinists who think smart white men (that is, themselves) have superior genes and should replace the world’s mostly brown-skinned, nonmillionaire population with their own supposedly genetically superior offspring.
They dgaf about their kids—see Elmo, Exhibit A—but they do gaf about their seed. So gross.
The whole industry is hideously eugenicist. It’s ultimately a business. The customers want genetic material from healthy, white, tall, attractive, and intelligent donors. Prospective parents shop for every advantage they can. If you can buy those traits, then you can buy social privilege for your child.
With exception of height and race (and I assume POC couples might go for donors of ethnicity similar to their own, too), nothing from that list sounds so awful.
Quite frankly, I think very good health should be a minimum requierment for donors.
And we all want what’s best for our children, and intelligence and good looks can give people an edge.
We pick our partners, even if they don’t meet these standards, because we love them for who they are. There is no connection with the donor, hell, the donor doesn’t have to like you either, so you might as well pay for the best you can get. Dunno, for some reason I don’t find that strange nor problematic.
That’s not right, speaking as someone who used a donor. Often people choose based on their partner’s looks to try and make children that take from both sides.
Guy sounds like just as much as a d**** as Musk and Zuckerberg but unless the government can prove he is knowingly, actively participating in a criminal enterprise it seems extremely fascist to detain him over how other people use his product. It’s basically the same as arresting a Verizon Wireless executive because criminals used Verizon cell service to plan a bank heist.
Well this is what needs to be figured out with encrypted technology. Because Verizon could and would provide phone records to law enforcement. Telegraph (I guess) cannot by design. I don’t know enough about the specifics of this case, but in general it’s the push and pull of privacy vs security interests (government entities). This has been a growing problem for years and doing nothing has gotten us nowhere.
I hope Elon and this person realize that: There’s a difference between “fathering” and “sperm donating.” Just saying.
Erm, to say that he “fathered” so many children is a stretch – he’s just guessing based on 15 years of donations, that’s not to say that his sperm were even viable, desirable, or used. And of course biology doesn’t make him the “father” of any theoretical children that he’s never met.
But why, as a purported billionaire, was he donating to sperm banks for 15 years? Some sort of anonomized master race sh!t? It seems like an odd (albeit legal) way to go about it.
@Jay, he was a fairly unattractive incel troll prior to getting plastic surgery and a hair transplant/wig, and a gym membership. He had plenty of time for making “donations”.
A white lesbian couple who used a sperm donor told me they were told the man’s height, weight, age, and occupation iirc, and there was a one-para blurb where the donor could explain why he’d donated his sperm.
They were only looking at white men. They told me about half the donors said they wanted to share their genetically superior seed with the world. So this couple chose from the other half of the donors, who said they did it for the money 😂
Sorry, Durev, that Dutch sperm donor with 1000 kids has you beat x10. His kids have reunions. Although, not something to brag about.
I hope they find him guilty and start going after other platforms..
Twitter and Google (YouTube) next please.
I wonder how he would feel if he knew say a black woman or a Jewish woman had used his sperm successfully. And why do I have a feeling he has specific terms and conditions on the use of his spunk?
Also – “often shirtless” make me howl. 😂
Space Karen is not “libertarian”, he is MAGA. Not even “conservative”, just bat-shit crazy.
I hope that the French authorities are able to do some kind of deal with him so that they get the back end stuff. You know, IP addresses, etc.
He’s a citizen of UAE, France, Russia, and the Caribbean island nation of St Kitts and Nevis. The Russians have already spoken up about this in favor of Pavel. The UAE is demanding info because they want to protect its citizen. Me thinks there’s been some interesting stuff happening on Telegram that no one want Pavel Durov disclosing in any way.
I wonder just what all of these governments are concerned about? Putin? Trump? Etc. I also wonder what type of information has been exchanged. This could get really interesting.
I’ve never heard of this guy.
Any dude that brags about his sperm donations has a insecure complex about his own 🍆 size. This dudes got a little one. I feel sorry if any of the kids are boys. They inherent his small 🍆 size. 85% of body builders are gay. I just have a feeling he’s hiding something.
I’m not sure I’d call this guy “elusive.”