Pavel Durov explains refusal to sell Telegram

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said that he twice rejected offers to sell a stake in the messenger under the threat of blocking.

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According to him, the offers came several years ago from two funds from countries that later attempted to block Telegram.

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However, Durov, he said, was unequivocal:

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“The response to these proposals was like my 2011 middle finger photo: we do not betray our users. We do not sell Telegram — not partially, nor completely. This will always be our position,” he said.

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Attempts to block Telegram were made in three countries. In Russia the messenger was banned from April 2018 to June 2020. In 30 April 2018. In June 2019 Telegram was blocked in China.

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Durov’s middle finger was ‘shown’ to Mail.ru Group in 2011 in response to a proposal to sell the social network VKontakte. The deal, however, went ahead later.

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Earlier, analysts cited the possible sale of Telegram to an oligarch and an investor in TON, close to the Russian authorities, as one of the likely reasons for Telegram’s thaw with Russia.

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