Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov gave his first interview since 2017 to talk about the messaging service’s future, and particularly its financial future. An initial public offering (IPO) is under consideration, he said.
Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai founded Telegram in 2013. Pavel Durov is now the sole owner of the company, according to the Financial Times. He told the newspaper on March 11:
“We are hoping to become profitable next year, if not this year.”
Durov said the company has “started to monetise,” and “we see value in [an IPO] as a means to democratise access to Telegram’s value.” This comes despite offers from investors at “$30bn-plus valuations.” The newspaper wrote that two unnamed sources had told it that Telegram would probably seek a listing in the United States once the company becomes profitable.
Telegram has already raised $2 billion through bond issues since 2021. Bondholders would receive a 10-20% discount on the Telegram IPO if it is floated before March 2026. Durov also told the newspaper that Telegram would consider following the lead of Reddit by offering “loyal” users shares during the IPO as well.
Reddit announced in a filing submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 11 that it hoped to raise $519 million in an IPO, and its investors would sell another 6.7 million shares for a total fundraise of $748 million.
Related: Reddit converts excess cash into Bitcoin and Ethereum
Telegram launched an advertising platform this month in another attempt to raise funds. The platform operates on the TON blockchain. Telegram is offering channel owners 50% of total advertising revenue from displaying ads on their channels.
Telegram has 900 million users and about 50 employees, according to statistics cited by the Financial Times. That makes it the fourth-largest messaging service in use.
Durov was the co-founder of Vkontakte, Russia’s most popular social media, in 2007. In 2019, the SEC sued Telegram to halt a $1.7 billion initial coin offering for the launch of GRAM. Telegram gave up its attempt to launch the coin and exited the TON Network in May 2020.
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