The founder of Telegram called information about negotiations with Google on the sale of Telegram for $1 billion a rumor. A representative of the messenger also denied the fact that Durov met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, reports Fortune

Telegram founder Pavel Durov (Photo: Reuters/Pixstream)

The information that Telegram founder Pavel Durov discussed the possibility of selling the messenger to Google is a “rumor.” Durov himself announced this on April 29 on his Twitter account.

In the first “tweet,” the entrepreneur provided a link to Fortune’s material, based on materials from the publication “Secret of the Firm” and RBC , with the headline “Google was negotiating to buy Telegram” (at the moment the title has been changed to “Telegram denies reports of negotiations with Google” ) . “It’s strange that Fortune trusts *** (indecent word missing - RBC ) story from a low-grade blog. We have never held any negotiations on a merger and do not plan to,” Durov wrote. In a second message, Durov addressed the author of the Fortune article, David Meyer: “So you waited 50 minutes for our comment and decided to publish a rumor? I'm sorry, I was in a meeting."

The updated version of Fortune's material includes official comments from Google and Telegram. The American company told the magazine that it “does not comment on rumors and speculation.” Telegram spokesman Marcus Ra was more “straightforward”: he called all media reports “complete nonsense,” emphasizing that he did not mean details, but all the information in its entirety, Fortune reports.

When asked by RBC whether Durov received an offer from Google to sell Telegram for $1 billion, asked two days ago, the founder of Telegram did not answer. In a comment to The Secret of the Company, the entrepreneur noted that “there was no talk of cooperation between Telegram and Google.” In November 2015, the entrepreneur told the publication that he valued Telegram at $3–4 billion, based, among other things, on the offers he received from potential investors.

“Sekret Firma” reported on April 28, citing a source close to Telegram and several investors in the venture market, that Google valued Durov’s messenger at at least $1 billion. Negotiations in May 2015 took place at the initiative of Google; the CEO personally met with the founder of Telegram Google Director Sundar Pichai, sources of “Company Secret” claimed. The American company wanted to “discuss the messenger market and its prospects in this market,” the publication indicated.

Two of Durov’s acquaintances confirmed to RBC that Google valued Telegram at $1 billion, and also said that the American company was considering the possibility of purchasing Telegram. Durov himself was not satisfied with the offer of the American corporation, one of RBC’s interlocutors clarified.

Durov founded Telegram in 2013. The maintenance of the project costs him at least $1 million a month, the entrepreneur covers the expenses from his personal funds (according to Forbes magazine , Durov earned about $300 million from the sale of his stake in VKontakte). Durov stated that the messenger will remain free, and monetization of the service can occur through the development of platforms for external developers. In February 2016, the number of active Telegram users exceeded 100 million per month.

Durov commented on reports about Google's plans to buy Telegram