Pavel Valeryevich Durov

Background

Pavel Durov created VKontakte (VK.com), Russia's largest social network, in 2006. After refusing to comply with Russian FSB demands to hand over user data and shut down opposition groups, he was ousted from VK in 2014 and left Russia. He founded Telegram in 2013 with his brother Nikolai. Telegram was banned in Russia from 2018-2021. Durov became a French citizen in 2021 but resides in Dubai.