"And that set off kind of a battle royale for control of the platform that Durov eventually lost," said Nathalie Marรฉchal of the Washington advocacy group Ranking Digital Rights. Investors took profits on Friday while they could ahead of the weekend, explained Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research. Saturday and Sunday could easily bring unfortunate news on the war frontโand traders would rather be able to sell any recent winnings at Fridayโs earlier prices than wait for a potentially lower price at Mondayโs open. Either way, Durov says that he withdrew his resignation but that he was ousted from his company anyway. Subsequently, control of the company was reportedly handed to oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Igor Sechin, both allegedly close associates of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images He adds: "Telegram has become my primary news source."
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