Over 100 Gen Apha kids are set to one day become overnight millionaires—and they may not even know it.
That’s because the 40-year-old Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, has six “official” children with three different partners; but he’s also been donating to a sperm clinic for 15 years, which told him he has helped conceive over 100 babies across 12 countries. And luckily for them, they’ve just been included in Durov’s $13.9 billion will, despite potentially not knowing their wealthy biological father.
“I wrote my will very recently,” Durov told French publication Le Point in a recent interview. “I make no difference between my children: there are those who were conceived naturally and those who come from my sperm donations. 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.”
That means his at least 106 children could each earn around $132 million for being related to the Russian-born entrepreneur. But they’ll have to wait a long time before inheriting that fortune.
“I decided that my children would not have access to my fortune until a period of thirty years has elapsed, starting from today,” Durov continued. “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.”
Give Legacy, a sperm and fertility clinic, tells Fortune whether or not they know they’re set for the windfall from their biological dad depends on whether Durov was a “directed donor,” known to the birth parent, or an “anonymous donor” with tighter regulations.
“Identity verification is reasonably straightforward. Paternity tests can confirm that Pavel is the father,” says Khaled Kteily, CEO of Give Legacy. “Anyone who believes that Pavel is their biological father could submit a sample to verify. Depending on each country’s laws as well as relationships with the birth mother, the child could already be made aware.”
Who is Durov—and what are the controversies with Telegram?
Russian-born Durov founded Telegram in 2013—a messaging app divorced from government-requested censorship. But he had to flee his home country in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on another popular communications platform he had founded, VKontakte. Once he left, he invested all his energy into building up Telegram.
While boundless free speech can allow diverse political and social opinions to thrive, a lack of moderation on the platform has led to some serious issues.
In August of 2024, the Telegram founder and CEO was placed under formal investigation in France. It was alleged that he was complicit in running a platform that enabled an organized gang to perform illicit transactions. Durov was also accused by French prosecutors of complicity in the organized distribution of sexual images of children on Telegram.
Indicted on six charges in total, he was barred from leaving France without permission during the investigation, but was later authorized to move to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he holds dual-citizenship and runs his platform. Durov’s lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminski, told BBC that it was “absurd” to accuse his client of being involved “in criminal acts that don’t concern him either directly or indirectly.”
Telegram has also been criticized for reportedly allowing disinformation and extremism to spread, including neo-Nazi ideologies and pedophilic material.
Fortune reached out to Telegram for comment.
Other CEOs and billionaires with their wealth planned out
When it comes to passing immense wealth down to kids, Durov stands out in a crowd of nepotism-conscious leaders. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, worth $176 billion, plans to leave less than 1% of his fortune to his children.
“My kids got a great upbringing and education, but less than 1% of the total wealth because I decided it wouldn’t be a favor to them,” Gates said on the Figuring Out With Raj Shamani podcast earlier this year. “It’s not a dynasty, I’m not asking them to run Microsoft. I want to give them a chance to have their own earnings and success.”
Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, who was married to late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, also won’t be forking over her $14.1 billion estate to her kids. And Guy Fieri—one of the wealthiest hosts in food TV history, with a $100 million Food Network contract—said his kids won’t get a dime unless they work for it.
“If you want any of this cheese, you’ve gotta get two degrees,” Fieri said in an interview with Fox News this year. “None of this, that I’ve been building, are you gonna get unless you come and take it from me.”
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