Founder and CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, is Dubai’s richest man. Known for his escape from Russian intelligence and revolutionising social networking, Durov recently appeared in a 4-hour-long interaction with Lex Fridman and talked about everything from Kafka to artificial intelligence. Several reports have revealed that Durov has anonymously donated sperm at fertility clinics across 12 countries. What started as a favour for his friend has now become one of his philanthropic efforts and has an uncanny resemblance to Tesla’s Elon Musk principles on children.
A Forbes report revealed that Durov and the Altra Vita fertility clinic in Moscow publicly offered free IVF using his genetic material. The service was offered to medically qualified women, hoping to help more families and destigmatise sperm donation. Addressing this controversial take, Fridman said there has always been a “confusion” over how many kids he had. Replying candidly, Durov explained, “I don’t really know how many biological kids I have exactly.”
‘Overabundance paralyses motivation and willpower’
Explaining how he became a donor for the first time, Durov said that their friend didn’t want to “rely on some random anonymous genetic material.” Thinking it was bizarre, 15 years ago, he was still persuaded to go through with it. ” I can’t say I am incredibly proud of that, but I think it was the right thing to do,” he added. Over time, he had a revelation that there isn’t “much time left on this planet, things are getting trickier…I can help some couples have babies.”
Durov also shared that he doesn’t distinguish between his biological children, whether conceived naturally or in vitro. He went to make a staggering claim and said, “As long as they can establish their shared DNA with me someday, maybe in 30 years from now, they have to be entitled to a share of my estate after I’m gone.” Since he had already made this public information, he is often the recipient of messages, memes, and requests that some people are his children, while others ask to be adopted.
Fridman questioned the financial logistics of this decision, to which Durov replied, “I think overabundance paralyses motivation and willpower.” Explaining further, he said that it is detrimental for young boys to be overshadowed by their father’s achievements, and not having the need to achieve something of their own. ” This removes the incentive to work on developing their own skills, removes the incentive to study, to work. So I thought if they’re going to have this money, it should be something that they would only get when they’re already adults,” Durov explained his rationale.
Durov, in his modest high-ground, revealed that it was likely he left “many, many millions of dollars for each child.” Hence, he wants to ensure that he doesn’t leave behind huge wealth for each of his children, defeating the purpose behind his principle.
