| Pavel Durov Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 9 in |
| Weight | 74 kg |
| Date of Birth | October 10, 1984 |
| Zodiac Sign | Libra |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
Pavel Durov is a Russian entrepreneur who is best known as the founder of the Russian online social media and social networking service VK (VKontakte) (2006); and the cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging service Telegram (2013). In 2017, he had joined the World Economic Forum‘s (WEF) ‘Young Global Leaders’, an independent non-profit organization managed from Geneva under the supervision of the Swiss government.
Born Name
Pavel Valerievich Durov
Nick Name
Russian Mark Zuckerberg
Sun Sign
Libra
Born Place
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Residence
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Nationality
Education
Pavel had attended an elementary school in Italy as his father was employed there at that time. Upon his return to Russia in 2001, he had studied at the D. K. Fadeev Academic Gymnasium, a selective secondary boarding school in St. Petersburg.
A year later, he had joined the Saint Petersburg State University and had graduated from there in 2006, with a first-class degree in philology.
Occupation
Entrepreneur
Family
- Father – Valery Semenovich Durov (Antiquarian, Philologist, Academic, Former ‘Head of the Department’ of Classical Philology at St. Petersburg State University)
- Mother – Albina Durova
- Siblings – Nikolai Valeryevich Durov (Older Brother) (Programmer, Mathematician, Entrepreneur)
- Others – Semyon Petrovich Tulyakov (Grandfather) (World War II Veteran, Honored with the ‘Order of the Red Star’, the ‘Order of the Patriotic War’, and the ‘Order of the Great Patriotic War’)
Build
Athletic
Height
5 ft 9 in or 175 cm
Weight
74 kg or 163 lbs
Girlfriend / Spouse
Pavel has dated –
- Alena Shishkova – Rumor
- Viktoria Odintcova – Rumor
Race / Ethnicity
White
He is of Russian descent.
Hair Color
Dark Brown
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Toned physique
- Side-parted, wavy hair
- Affable smile
- Often sports a trimmed beard
Pavel Durov Facts
- Pavel and his brother Nikolai had taken the value of their VKontakte business to USD 3 billion by the end of 2010. However, in 2011, he was involved in an altercation with the local police in Saint Petersburg after the Russian government had demanded his organization to remove from its platform the pages of the politicians of opposition parties. The police had to leave after he refused to answer his door.
- In December 2013, he was put under pressure to sell 12% of the company’s stocks to Ivan Tavrin, the owner of Mail.ru, a major Russian internet company. Ivan subsequently sold those stocks to Mail.ru which gave it 52% majority ownership of VKontakte. In 2014, Mail.ru acquired all the remaining shares and became the sole owner of VKontakte.
- In April 2014, the Russian government had further pressurized him to hand over the data of several Ukrainian protesters to Russia’s security agencies. He refused to comply and posted the official order on his VKontakte page. By the end of the month, he had been dismissed as the CEO of the company.
- Enraged, he left Russia, obtained citizenship in Saint Kitts and Nevis by donating USD 250k to the country’s ‘Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation’, and later secured USD 300 million in cash from Swiss banks. With these funds, he set up his next company, Telegram, which was first headquartered in Berlin and later moved to Dubai.
- His life and career have been depicted in the Russian-language book titled The Durov Code: The True Story of VK and its Creator (2012).
Featured Image by Pavel Durov / Instagram
