- The founder of Telegram navigates a life of ceaseless movement and controversy, driven by an unyielding quest for freedom
- From his early days as a coding prodigy in Russia to his battles with governments over encryption
- Durov remains both a champion of privacy and a magnet for suspicion to many and the government
Pavel Durov, a figure both idolised and vilified, drifts through the world in all its complexities, always attempting to elude capture while forging a freer digital empire.
The founder of Telegram—detained in France last week and entangled in legal webs—embodies the contradictions of the tech age: a billionaire entrepreneur with the soul of a renegade, a man who shuns borders yet creates virtual sanctuaries for those who seek refuge from prying eyes.
To some, he’s a programming prodigy; to others, a Kremlin pawn. …