Telegram boss to leave fortune to over 100 children he has fathered

The founder of instant messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, says the more than 100 children he has fathered will share his estimated $13.9bn (£10.3bn) fortune.

"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," Mr Durov told French political magazine Le Point.

Mr Durov claimed he is the "official father" of six children with three different partners, but 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 also reiterated that he denies any wrongdoing in connection with serious criminal charges he faces in France.

The self-exiled Russian technology tycoon also told the magazine that his children would not have access to their inheritance for 30 years.

"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," he said.

The BBC has approached Mr Durov for comment.

The 40-year-old said he had written a will now because his job "involves risks – defending freedoms earns you many enemies, including within powerful states".

His app, Telegram, known for its focus on privacy and encrypted messaging, has more than a billion monthly active users.

Mr Durov also addressed criminal charges he faces in France, where he was arrested last year after being accused of failing to properly moderate the app to reduce criminality.

He has denied failing to cooperate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual abuse content and fraud. Telegram has previously denied having insufficient moderation.

In the Le Point interview he described the charges as "totally absurd".

"Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn't make those who run it criminals," he added.

Russian-born Mr Durov now lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based. He holds dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates.

The founder of Russian social network VKontakte said in 2014 that he had been fired after refusing requests from the Kremlin to censor posts.

He founded Telegram in 2014, and the app remains popular in Russia.

Telegram allows groups of up to 200,000 members, which critics have argued makes it easier for misinformation to spread, and for users to share conspiracist, neo-Nazi, paedophilic, or terror-related content.

In the UK, the app was scrutinised for hosting far-right channels that were instrumental in organising the violent disorder in English cities last summer.

Telegram did remove some groups, but overall its system of moderating extremist and illegal content is significantly weaker than that of other social media companies and messenger apps, according to cybersecurity experts.

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