Telegram CEO says the platform now has 900 million users and is close to being profitable as the company moves closer to its goal of listing on the stock market. Photo: CNN.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov told the Financial Times that Telegram now has 900 million users and is close to becoming profitable as the company moves closer to its goal of listing on the stock market.

Dubai-based Telegram has grown into one of the world’s most popular social media apps and is generating “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue after introducing advertising and premium memberships two years ago, Pavel Durov said.

“We hope to be profitable next year, if not this year,” the Russian founder said in a public interview earlier this year.

The platform has 900 million monthly active users, up from 500 million at the beginning of 2021, he added.

Telegram’s boss revealed the company has been “touted at a valuation of over $30 billion ” from potential investors including major tech funds.

“The main reason we started monetizing Telegram is to maintain financial independence. The profits from an IPO will also help improve the user experience,” Durov said.

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.

Durov declined to comment on a specific timeline but said Telegram was “studying a number of necessary and appropriate options.”

He revealed that Telegram 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.

Investors who own these bonds can convert their debt (without collateral) into equity at a 10-20% discount to Telegram’s IPO price if the successful listing takes place by the end of March 2026.

In the prospect of an upcoming IPO, Durov also said he is considering selling a portion of the company’s shares to users who are considered “loyal.”

Telegram — an app that started with just 50 employees in its early days — has grown to become the world’s most popular chat app in just a few years.

And Durov has also been hailed as “ Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg ” after co-founding the country’s largest social network. A supporter of free speech, Durov founded Telegram in 2013 with his brother.

In the latest development, according to TF1 TV and BFM TV channels , Pavel Durov was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget airport, a suburb of Paris, late on August 24 when he arrived here by private plane.

The founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram has been detained on charges that Telegram facilitated criminal activity due to a lack of moderators