MOSCOW, RUSSIA – The Telegram is valued by potential investors at more than US$30 billion, the co-founder of the social network Pavel Durov said.
The US$30 billion valuation was made by global technology funds in particular, Durov said in an interview with The Financial Times.
“Generally speaking, we see value in (an IPO) as a means to democratize access to Telegram’s value,” the co-founder said.
The Telegram will consider the sale of a portion of shares to its standing users, the businessman added.
It’s the reclusive founder’s first public interview since 2017, according to the outlet.
Durov, who was forced to flee Russia in 2014, currently operates the company out of Dubai. He said that the messaging app now has 900 million monthly active users.
Since creating a paid subscription option and introducing advertising on the app two years ago, Durov told the newspaper that Telegram has made “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue.
“We are hoping to become profitable next year, if not this year,” he said.
