Published 25 August 2024 at 12.14
Foreign. App Telegram founder Pavel Durov has reportedly been arrested at a French airport. The billionaire, who was traveling on his private jet, was the subject of a French arrest warrant, according to local media.
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Pavel Durov, billionaire co-founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV said, citing an unnamed source.
Durov traveled aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding that he had been the subject of a arrest warrant in France.
The 39-year-old is said to have traveled from Azerbaijan and was arrested at 8pm local time.
Durov was expected to appear in court on Sunday.
The the Russian-born entrepreneur lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and holds dual citizenship in France and the United Arab Emirates.
Durov, estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion (150 billion kroner), left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition groups on his other social media platform VK, which he later sold.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Russian Embassy in France is taking “immediate measures” to clarify the situation.
Citing a representative from the Russian Embassy in France, TASS reported that there had been no contact between Durov and the embassy, but that proactively took “immediate” action.
Durov and his brother Nikolai founded messaging app Telegram in 2013 and it has around 900 million active users.
Telegram offers end-to-end encrypted messaging and users can also set up “channels” to quickly spread information to followers.
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