Old photos of Pavel Durov have resurfaced online, sparking speculation that the Telegram CEO went under the knife to alter his appearance. Durov was recently arrested in France for suspected complicity in running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, child sex abuse images, drug trafficking and fraud.
Pavel Durov, a 39-year-old Russia-born entrepreneur, is the billionaire founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram. He had launched Telegram in 2013 as a messaging app that prioritises user privacy by providing end-to-end encryption on messages.
Forbes estimates Durov’s fortune to stand at $15.5 billion. The Dubai-based billionaire was detained in Paris a little over one week ago.
Pavel Durov: then vs now
Durov has been posting on Instagram since 2011. His recent photographs show a man with a full head of hair and toned physique. In many photographs, taken across the world, the 39-year-old billionaire appears shirtless.
However, his recent photographs stand in stark contrast to older pictures where Durov appears to have a receding hairline. After a social media user shared the old pictures alongside more recent ones, the internet has been abuzz with rumours that Durov had plastic surgery and a hair transplant.
“Pavel Durov (Telegram CEO) before his hair transplant and plastic surgery,” reads a post shared by a popular X account. The side-by-side comparison was also shared on Reddit, where users shared their thoughts on whether the changes are natural or whether he restored to plastic surgery.
“This isn’t a hair transplant. His hair is too thick and full to have this kind of drastic change from a HT. Most likely he’s wearing a hair system (wig),” reads a comment on Reddit.
“There’s a speculation that it’s not a transplant, but rather a hair system because his hairloss was much more advanced than in the first picture, so when the operation happens, the resulting hairdo never looks as full as his,” wrote one Reddit user.
“This is well done surgery,” another theorised.
“Honestly I think a lot of the facial “changes” are simply due to the much better angle and lighting on the second photo,” one Reddit user opined, not buying into the surgery narrative.
