CEO Pavel Durov once shared that Telegram is earning hundreds of millions of dollars from advertising business. The company is even aiming for a “blockbuster” listing on the stock exchange.
On the evening of August 24, billionaire Pavel Durov, CEO and founder of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget airport when he arrived here by private plane.
French authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the tech entrepreneur following a preliminary investigation. French authorities have accused Telegram of facilitating criminal activity, as the platform lacks sufficient moderators.
According to TF1 TV channel , Telegram CEO will have to appear in court. The news agency said Durov could face up to 20 years in prison.
Billionaire Pavel Durov was once hailed as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia” after co-founding VKontakte (VK), the country’s largest social network. He founded Telegram in 2013 with his brother and is headquartered in Dubai.
In an interview with the Financial Times in March, Mr. Durov revealed that Telegram has become one of the most popular social media apps in the world. The billionaire also revealed that the company is now earning hundreds of millions of dollars after implementing advertising policies and the paid service Telegram Premium two years ago.
“We expect to be profitable next year, if not this year,” he told the Financial Times . Durov also said the platform has 900 million monthly active users, up from 500 million at the start of 2021.
Telegram’s boss revealed that the company is valued at more than $30 billion by potential investors, including global technology investment funds. However, he does not want to sell Telegram and aims to list it on the stock market.
“We are looking to monetize the app to maintain our independence. Listing on the stock market is the logical way,” said Pavel Durov.
Telegram’s leadership said the move toward a U.S. stock exchange listing would happen as soon as the company achieves the desired profitability and market conditions are favorable.
Telegram previously raised $2 billion in two bond offerings worth $1 billion and $750 million in 2021 and a follow-up issuance worth $270 million last year.
In addition, Mr. Durov said the platform will consider selling a portion of its shares to loyal users, a policy similar to that of social network Reddit when it listed on the US stock market in March. Telegram is also considering launching an AI chatbot to join the global artificial intelligence wave.
Notably, Telegram is one of the applications that is very popular with the cryptocurrency community. Unlike other messaging platforms that mainly make money from advertising, billionaire Durov initially developed this application to make money from cryptocurrencies.
In 2018, he launched a cryptocurrency called Gram and the TON platform. These projects immediately raised $1.7 billion, but were later stopped by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for circumventing the country’s financial laws.
Experts have repeatedly warned that the platform’s lack of moderation could turn it into a hotbed for crime, terrorism, or misinformation. In March, Durov said Telegram planned to improve its moderation process this year, as a series of elections are taking place.
