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Telegram founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was reportedly arrested in France in connection with concerns that the Telegram app did not have adequate moderation, Reuters reported. The billionaire recently said in a Telegram post that while he doesn’t have a wife, he still may have more than 100 biological children. He revealed this, he wrote in a post re-shared on X, because he wants to “destigmatize” sperm donation and encourage others to help struggling families.
In a Telegram Post, Durov Said He Wanted to ‘Open-Source My DNA’
In Durov’s verified Telegram account, he posted in late July about how he came to have “over 100 biological kids” despite being “a guy who has never been married and prefers to live alone…” Heavy confirmed that the post, shared multiple times on X, was originally posted by Durov’s verified Telegram account.
In the post, Durov wrote that he had “over 100 biological kids” because of a friend suggesting he donate sperm to a fertility clinic about 15 years ago.
He wrote: “The boss of the clinic told me that ‘high quality donor material’ was in short supply and that it was my civid duty to donate more sperm anonymously to help more couples. This sounded crazy enough to get me to sign up…”
He went on to share that he “helped over a hundred couples in 12 countries to have kids” and that one IVF clinic still had frozen sperm available for anonymous use even after he stopped being a donor.
“Now I plan to open-source my DNA so that my biological children can find each other more easily,” he wrote. “…I don’t regret having been a donor. The shortage of healthy sperm has become an increasingly serious issue worldwide, and I’m proud that I did my part to help alleviate it. I also want to help destigmatize the whole notion of sperm donation and incentivize more healthy men to do it, so that families struggling to have kids can enjoy more options.”
When his post was reshared on X, Elon Musk replied, “Rookie numbers – Genghis Khan.” To which Durov jokingly replied, “brb, increasing unit limit.”
#FreePavel Trended on X After His Reported Arrest
Musk used the hashtag #FreePavel to push for the entrepreneur’s release after his arrest was widely reported. He used the hashtag alongside an interview Durov did with Tucker Carlson where he promoted free speech. The hashtag trended on the social media platform.
Durov was reportedly arrested by French police after his private jet landed at Le Bourget Airport, according to BBC. Officials said he was arrested “under a warrant for offences related to the popular messaging app,” BBC noted. According to Reuters, citing the French media website TF1, Durov was arrested as part of a preliminary police investigation into Telegram not having enough moderates to limit criminal activity.
The French website TF1, according to a Google-translated version, said Durov might face indictment on Sunday.
According to Forbes, Durov has a net worth of approximately $15.5 billion. (Bloomberg puts his net worth at $9.15 billion.) He became a French citizen in 2021 and moved to Dubai (along with Telegram) in 2017.
Telegram is one of the top social media platforms, ranked just after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat, according to BBC.
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