Telegram, one of the world's most popular messaging platforms, also known as Telegram Messenger, is a cloud-based, cross-platform social media and instant messaging service which was launched for iOS and Android in 2013. The application was founded by brothers Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov, whose vision for secure and private communication transformed the way millions connect online. Since its launch, Telegram has grown into a global platform with hundreds of millions of users, known for its speed, privacy features, and cloud-based messaging services.
About Telegram founders
The Durov brothers — Nikolai and Pavel — are Russian-born tech entrepreneurs and mathematicians who built two of the world's most influential communication platforms, including VKontakte (VK) and Telegram.
Pavel Durov profile
Pavel Durov, often referred to as the "Russian Mark Zuckerberg," is the public face (CEO) behind Telegram. Born in 1984 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), Russia, Pavel first gained recognition after founding the social networking site VKontakte (VK) in 2006, which became Russia's largest social media platform. However, disagreements with authorities over user privacy and government requests eventually led him to leave the company. But did you know that he is the biological father to over 100 children? Yes, that's right, Pavel revealed that he started donating sperm 15 years ago to help people in need. Believing in living a ultra minimalist lifestyle, Pavel asserts that he owns no luxury assets and neither carries much smartphones as it leads to distraction and wants to save himself from the exposure of digital screens.
Pavel Durov |
Nikolai Durov profile
Nikolai Durov is a Russian computer programmer and mathematician and is the elder brother of Pavel Durov. The technical genius is a cryptographer who has won multiple gold medals at the International Mathematical Olympiads. He also holds two PhDs and developed the core MTProto protocol that powers Telegram's secure messaging. Nikolai began reading at an age of three and by the age of six he was already into deep reading about complex astronomy and science. In his early age, he was known for carrying a notebook that contained details about his personal projects, including schematic for building his own nuclear reactor.
Nikolai Durov |
Origins and controversies
While Pavel Durov is the public face behind Telegram, Nikolai works in the making of it. While Pavel provided vision and funding, Nikolai wrote the fundamental codes and made computer games. He single-handedly developed Telegram's proprietary encryption protocols. Despite being a programming and mathematical genius who taught Pavel everything about technology, Nikolai prefers to stay away completely from the public eye.
How Telegram came into existence?
The motive behind making of Telegram was not just to create a social network and to protect data like Facebook, now Meta, it was much more than that, and the usage of it did not come into highlight and in the eyes of government of Russia, until it became a part of anti-government protest against President Putin in December 2011 at a mass level. VKontakte became a medium of the protest that acted like a weapon against the Russian government and that is why Russian intelligence agency Federal Security Service (AFSB) came into action and requested Pavel to ban anti-government related social media pages but in response to that Pavel did not accept but in late 2013, Pavel had to sell VKontakte's most shares.
Things became worse when Ukrainians started protesting against the Russian government in their country on VKontakte. This time Russian government asked them to provide data of users and organisers when Pavel refused to give data, VKontakte's board fired Pavel from his own company and that is how Telegram came into existence. A platform which is not in government control and based on end-to-end encrypted model.
Pavel Durov arrested in France
But to build the base of the company he had to find a place or a country, where he did not have to face government control and for that he travelled in many countries to find a better place and then he went to America's San Francisco but he did not get rid of AFSB over there as well, and then Pavel went to Dubai where there was not much interference of government and that helped him to scale Telegram.
From 2013 to 2016, there were around 100 million users of Telegram and in 2018, users increased rapidly and it became 200 million and by the end of 2025, the users increased to 1 billion. And here comes another chapter where illegal activities like drug selling, human trafficking also activated and because the policy of the application was to protect users data and identity, criminals were getting shield.
In August 2024, Pavel was arrested in France as he was accused of allowing widespread criminal activity including money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking on his platform. But, he was released on bail under strict judicial supervision, including a ban on leaving France, before he ultimately went to Dubai. This raises an important question: Should the CEO of a social media application be held accountable for illegal activities occurring on their platform?
