Pavel Durov: The Story Behind the Fortune

Pavel Durov founded the messaging app Telegram in 2013 and runs it from Dubai. He earlier created the Russian social network VK before leaving Russia.

He holds Emirati, French, Russian, and St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship. Because Telegram is privately held, published estimates of his net worth vary widely.

Pavel Durov built this fortune from the ground up — a self-made success in technology & social media.

He is based in Dubai, UAE.

A few of the highlights on the public record: Founder of Telegram, one of the world's largest messaging apps; Previously founded the Russian social network VK; Holds four citizenships and is based in Dubai.

The journey to get here is well documented. In 2006, launched the Russian social network VKontakte (VK) with his brother Nikolai. In 2013, launched the encrypted messaging app Telegram with Nikolai after leaving VK. In 2014, sold his stake in VK and left Russia amid disputes over user data.

The fortune shows up across our lists, too: #3 on The Youngest Billionaires (Under 45) (out of 8 tracked).

On net worth alone, the closest companies are Mark Zuckerberg ($264.22B) and Bobby Murphy ($696.56M) — a reminder of how tightly bunched the very top of the wealth list really is.

Today, Pavel is worth an estimated $13.00B — #38 in the world on our real-time list, a figure that moves with the latest public reporting on his holdings.