The social network’s co-founder excluded the Telegram sale
The Telegram is valued by potential investors at more than $30bn, the co-founder of the social network Pavel Durov told The Financial Times.
The $30 billion valuation was made by global technology funds in particular, Durov said. At the same time, he excluded the Telegram sale, the newspaper said.
“We are hoping to become profitable next year, if not this year,” said the Russia-born founder in his first public interview since 2017. He added that the platform has 900mn monthly active users, up from 500mn at the beginning of 2021.
Durov, who fully owns Telegram, said the company had “been offered $30bn-plus valuations” from potential investors including “global late-stage tech funds”, but has ruled out selling the platform while it explores a future initial public offering.
“The main reason why we started to monetise is because we wanted to remain independent,” he said.
“Generally speaking, we see value in [an IPO] as a means to democratize access to Telegram’s value,” the co-founder noted. The Telegram will consider the sale of a portion of shares to its standing users, the businessman added.
