Oh no. There’s a certain degree of myth-making around what exactly went on, so take everything that follows lightly. Telegram was originally launched as a side project by the Durov brothers, with Nikolai handling the coding and Pavel as CEO, while both were at VK. This provided opportunity to their linked entities to offload their shares at higher prices and make significant profits at the cost of unsuspecting retail investors. In 2018, Russia banned Telegram although it reversed the prohibition two years later. Telegram was founded in 2013 by two Russian brothers, Nikolai and Pavel Durov. He adds: "Telegram has become my primary news source."
from fr