From the archive

Don't be like Durov

Durov recently gave an interview to Lex Fridman. Honestly? I didn’t watch it. And I won’t. Why? Everything I need to know has long been clear without those two hours of verbal gymnastics. To me, Pavel Durov’s public image is pure 21st-century posing. A hypocritical, Photoshopped character. A billionaire who pretends to live an “ascetic” lifestyle: walking barefoot and drinking water from a coconut. Yeah, right. The same “monk” who has a Telegram empire, offshore accounts, real estate, and a bunch of schemes where money spins faster than he can come up with new rules for “freedom of speech.” He says one thing and does another. Says he’s “against control” and “for privacy,” yet regularly bends to any government when that’s what it takes to protect the business. Remember when Telegram was blocked in Rashka? Loud proclamations that “we will not give in,” and a couple of years later he peacefully negotiates — and everything works again. No revolution. Just an agreement. Nothing personal — just business. So here’s the question: why do people keep believing guys like him? Because it’s convenient to believe in a “hero.” It’s convenient to think there’s someone “like us” among the billionaires. When in reality he’s playing you like kids, selling an image rather than the truth.