Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram announced on his personal channel that his messaging app has reached 1 billion monthly active users, making it the second largest messaging app after WhatsApp. He also expressed that the engagement of Telegram users is increasing, spending 41 minutes daily on the app. Commenting on the growing revenue of this popular app, the tech giant said that the platform generated a $547 million profit in 2024.
Russian-origin Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has recently returned to Dubai after clearance from France, where he was alleged of facilitating organized crime and illegal transactions. He was also accused of sharing CSAM (child sexual abuse material) on Telegram.
WhatsApp Cheap Imitation
Telegram CEO made a strong statement against his rival messaging app WhatsApp, calling it a cheap imitation. He said
“Ahead of us stands WhatsApp — a cheap, watered-down imitation of Telegram. For years, they’ve desperately tried to copy our innovations while burning billions on lobbying and PR campaigns to slow us down. They failed. Telegram grew, became profitable, and — unlike our competitor — retained its independence.”
Telegram is a widely used end-to-end encrypted messaging app. It was founded in 2013 by Pavel and Nikolai Durov. This messaging app claims to protect the privacy and secrecy of its users by keeping video calls and ‘secret’ chats non-viewable on Telegram servers. In 2023, The Atlantic declared Telegram ‘the world’s most important app (for now).
