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Russian billionaire and Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has offered to buy back jewelry stolen from Paris' iconic Louvre Museum. In posts shared on October 21, the 41-year-old criticized the French government and offered to buy and donate the stolen artifacts to Louvre Abu Dhabi.
For the unversed, a gang of four thieves broke into Louvre's Apollo Gallery on Sunday morning. According to The Guardian, they entered via a ladder and escaped with eight pieces of precious Napoleonic jewelry. As reported by Financial Express, they dropped the crown of Empress Eugénie while escaping, which was then found in a damaged condition. The crown was adorned with 1,354 diamonds.
Louvre's curator reportedly estimated the value of the stolen items at around €88 million.
According to Forbes, Pavel Durov's net worth is currently $17.1 billion. The tech billionaire, often called 'Russia's Mark Zuckerberg,' criticized the French government and the Louvre heist in a post on October 21.
"Not at all surprised by the Louvre heist. It's another sad sign of the decline of a once great country where the government has perfected the art of distracting people with phantom threats instead of confronting the real ones," wrote Durov.
In the comments, user @Sisic_Harun claimed to have stolen relics from the Louvre. In response, the Telegram CEO stated:
"Happy to buy the stolen jewelry and donate it back to the Louvre. I mean Louvre Abu Dhabi, of course; no one steals from Louvre Abu Dhabi."
The museum authorities have not yet responded to Pavel Durov's comments. However, the posts have gained significant traction online, accumulating over a million impressions on X.
Pavel Durov recently warned about the "dark dystopian future" of the internet
On October 10, 2025, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov turned 41. Instead of celebrating his birthday, the tech billionaire stressed the allegedly "dark" and "dystopian" future of the internet in an elaborate post on X. According to him, the internet is gradually becoming the ultimate tool for mass control.
"I’m turning 41, but I don’t feel like celebrating," he started. Our generation is running out of time to save the free Internet built for us by our fathers. What was once the promise of the free exchange of information is being turned into the ultimate tool of control.
Pavel Durov went on to cite various measures taken by countries around the world to allegedly strip the common people of online freedom. He mentioned the infamous Malicious Communications Act by the UK, along with other laws in countries like Germany, France, and Australia.
"A dark, dystopian world is approaching fast — while we’re asleep. Our generation risks going down in history as the last one that had freedoms — and allowed them to be taken away," continued Durov.
The Telegram CEO concluded his lengthy post by asserting that people were driven toward "self-destruction" because they were influenced to "destroy everything" left by their forefathers, such as "tradition, privacy, sovereignty, the free market, and free speech."
"So no, I’m not going to celebrate today. I’m running out of time. WE are running out of time," he ended.
Durov's message has received nearly 10 million impressions on X so far, including a repost from fellow tech billionaire Elon Musk.
