Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, is a frequent visitor to France, dividing his time between luxury Paris hotels and the sun-soaked south, and is accustomed to mingling with the country’s business and political elite.
But last month, the 39-year-old received a hostile reception when he arrived at Paris’ Le Bourget airport on a private jet. The Russian-born billionaire, who now has French-Emirati citizenship, was arrested and subsequently formally investigated for alleged complicity in criminal activity on messaging apps, from drug trafficking to distributing child sexual abuse material.
Durov, who goes by the name “Du Rove” with a Telegram channel and a French passport, wrote on Thursday that he was surprised to have been personally targeted for “illegal use of other people’s Telegram.”
His detention, during which he was barred from leaving France, has caused a diplomatic uproar and sparked a global debate about freedom of speech and online safety, but the case also shows that Durov has become so accustomed to life in France that he has ignored law enforcement concerns about Telegram.
“The French authorities had several ways of contacting me and asking for help. As a French national, I was a frequent visitor to the French consulate in Dubai,” Durov wrote, adding that he had recently helped French authorities set up a Telegram and hotline to deal with terrorist threats.
Before his arrest, Durov had received a warm welcome from French authorities, especially since 2017, when the new government led by Emmanuel Macron was keen to promote France as a destination for entrepreneurship and high-tech investment.
A year later, the French president met with Durov at the Elysée Palace, according to a person familiar with the matter. In 2021, France granted him French citizenship as a special honorary citizen, adding to his passport collection that also includes those of the United Arab Emirates and St. Kitts and Nevis.
Telegram has been a favorite platform for French authorities; Mr. Macron has had an active account on it since 2016, posting as recently as mid-August. Much of his 2017 presidential campaign was conducted on Telegram channels, according to two people familiar with the matter. Once Mr. Macron took office, Telegram was used extensively by his administration, the people said.
That all changed last year when then-Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne issued a notice calling on government officials to delete apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram from their phones and switch to domestic alternatives due to security concerns, but Telegram remains the main means of communication between the French Ministry of the Interior and journalists.
President Macron has been forced to defend his decision to grant Durov French citizenship. “This was done as part of a concerted strategy,” he said last month, noting that the same citizenship has been granted to entrepreneurs such as Snap’s Evan Spiegel, as well as professional athletes and actors.
“This is a very good thing and we will continue to do so,” the president said, adding that he had “no idea” about the investigation or Durov’s arrival in France.
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Telegram was founded in 2013 and eventually moved to Dubai, but its CEO has also spent the past decade cultivating relationships with prominent French figures.
They include Xavier Niel, a tech and telecoms tycoon who acted as an intermediary to introduce Durov to France, according to two people familiar with the matter. After his arrest, Durov first sought contact with Niel, according to AFP, but it is unclear whether the French entrepreneur made any contact or responded.
People familiar with Durov’s visit to Paris said he stayed at some of the city’s most prestigious hotels, including the Plaza Athénée, the Ritz and the Hôtel de Crillon. He was staying at Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s luxury villa in Antibes, which was seized by the French government following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He not only interacted in the French startup and venture capital scene, but also attended events with American investors and venture capitalists visiting France.
“I am a huge fan of French culture, art, design, architecture, cuisine, history and language,” Durov wrote on Telegram in 2018. “I have no doubt that France will play an even bigger role in global culture and economy in the future.”
“Obviously he likes luxuries – girlfriends, hotels – but he’s not an exhibitionist,” one French tech industry source said. “He’s very focused on his company. He’s a true entrepreneur.”
“He likes to procreate,” said another person who had worked with Durov in Dubai, referring to the billionaire’s boast on Telegram that he had fathered “more than 100 biological children” through sperm donation. “Other than that, I think he lives a normal life.”
Mr. Durov has been cautious about getting close to the government in the past: He founded VKontakte, Russia’s version of Facebook, and says he was forced to leave the company and Russia in 2014 after refusing Russian government demands for data on Ukrainian opposition users.
Leaked travel records published by Russian-language media and court documents from a separate Swiss criminal trial show that he has been traveling in and out of his home country regularly since then.
Durov has previously dismissed questions about his ties to the Kremlin as a “conspiracy theory.”
The terms of Durov’s judicial supervision in France may be subject to change. “He is prohibited from leaving the country, but this obligation may be lifted in due course, as ordered by the investigating judge or the investigative unit in charge of the case,” said Jerome Goudart, a criminal lawyer in Paris. “This may take place taking into account his professional situation: in addition to diplomatic affairs, he is also the CEO of a multinational company.”
“We are ready to withdraw from markets that do not comply with our principles,” Durov wrote on Thursday, but he remains in France.
“All the big tech companies know Pavel, but they would all say they barely know him,” a French tech source said. “You get the impression he’s a very lonely person.”
Additional reporting by Robert Smith and Sam Jones
