Pavel Durov, the founder of the messaging app Telegram, says his more than 100 children will share his estimated $13.9 billion fortune.
“They are all my children and will have the same rights! I don’t want them to fight over me after I die,” Durov told French magazine Le Point.
Durov said he is the “official father” of six children from three different partners, but that he actually has more than 100 children because he donated sperm to a fertility clinic.
He also reiterated that he denies any wrongdoing in the serious criminal charges he faces in France.
The self-exiled Russian tech tycoon also told the magazine that his children will not be able to touch their inheritance for 30 years.
“I want them to live like normal people, to make their own way, to learn to believe in themselves, to be creative, not to rely on a bank account,” he said.
Durov, 40, said he made his will now because his work “involves risks – defending freedom makes you many enemies, including in some powerful countries”.
His app Telegram, known for its emphasis on privacy and encrypted messaging, now has more than 1 billion monthly active users.
Durov also spoke about the criminal charges he faces in France, where he was arrested last year and accused of failing to properly moderate the app’s content to reduce criminality.
He denied failing to cooperate with law enforcement on issues relating to drug trafficking, child sexual abuse content and scams. Telegram has previously denied that its content moderation mechanisms were inadequate.
He described the allegations as “completely absurd” in an interview with Le Point.
He added: “Just because criminals contact on our messaging platform (and many others, of course), it doesn’t mean that those of us who run the platform are criminals.”
