Paul Durov in a recent interview talked about the achievements of the Telegram messenger. According to him, Telegram has become one of the most popular social networking applications in the world. It earns "hundreds of millions of dollars" in revenue after implementing advertising and premium subscription services.
Paul Durov also mentioned that next year, Telegram is expected to become profitable. Under favorable conditions, this could happen even this year. He added that the platform has 900 million monthly active users, compared to 500 million at the beginning of 2021.
Additionally, Durov stated that potential investors, including "global late-stage technology funds," have "offered an evaluation of the company of over $30 billion." However, he ruled out selling the platform, instead exploring a future initial public offering (IPO).
“The main reason we started monetizing is because we wanted to remain independent,” he said. “Overall we see [IPO] as a means of democratizing access to Telegram’s value.”
Informed sources reported that Telegram is likely to aim for a listing in the US when the company becomes profitable and market conditions are favorable. Durov declined to comment on timelines or possible IPO locations, but said that Telegram has "explored several options."
He also mentioned that during the IPO, Telegram will consider selling shares to loyal users — following in the footsteps of Reddit.
In addition, Durov stated that Telegram plans to improve its moderation processes this year ─ as numerous elections are taking place worldwide ─ "deploy mechanisms related to artificial intelligence to address potential issues."
But "if they do not cross red lines, I do not think we need to monitor how they express themselves," Durov said about user posts.
Source: ft
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