Pavel Durov was named the richest man in the Arab Emirates

Russian-born billionaire Pavel Durov, founder of the popular Telegram messenger, has topped the ranking of the richest businessmen in the United Arab Emirates, as the list of the wealthiest people was published by the international business publication Forbes.

Interestingly, in 2021, Forbes also recognized him as the richest businessman in the UAE with a net worth of USD 17.2 billion. Today, Pavel Durov’s net worth has slightly decreased to USD 15.1 billion, but this did not prevent him from maintaining his leadership position.

Today, the Telegram messenger created by Durov has more than 600 million active users worldwide. «Durov left Russia after refusing to cooperate with Russian special services and provide encrypted user data of his first social network (Vkontakte — ed.),» the Forbes article says.

The developer moved to the UAE in 2017. In April 2022, he became a citizen of the country. Interestingly, this is the billionaire’s fourth citizenship — Durov uses UAE and French passports for traveling abroad, and he used the citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis in the first years after emigrating from the terrorist state.

To date, Durov has created a blockchain platform on Telegram to sell usernames, and the first username was sold at auction for $ 1.4 million. Next, the developer plans to release a set of tools for creating a full range of decentralized applications, including cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets.