The billionaire founder of instant messaging app Telegram has revealed he has fathered more than 100 children and plans to share his fortune among them.
Pavel Durov told French political magazine Le Point he has fathered more than 100 children through an IVF clinic in addition to being the "official father" of six other children with three partners.
He said: “The clinic, where I started donating sperm 15 years ago to help a friend, told me that more than 100 babies had been conceived this way in 12 countries.”
He added that all of his offspring will share his estimated $13.9bn (£10.3bn) fortune.
“I want to specify that I make no difference between my children: there are those who were conceived naturally and those who come from my sperm donations,” Mr Durov told Le Point.
“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.”
The Russian technology tycoon told the publication that none of his children would 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 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”.
He also used the interview to again deny any wrongdoing in connection with serious criminal charges he faces in France.
He was arrested last year after being accused of failing to properly moderate his hugely popular Telegram app - famous for its privacy and encrypted messaging - 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.
He described the charges as “totally absurd”, adding: “Just because criminals use our messaging service among many others doesn't make those who run it criminals”.
Telegram has more than a billion monthly active users.
