Nadir Al-Nuri

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A Telegram spokesman declined to comment on the bond issue or the amount of the debt the company has due. The spokesman said Telegram’s equipment and bandwidth costs are growing because it has consistently posted more than 40% year-to-year growth in users.

For some time, Mr. Durov and a few dozen staffers had no fixed headquarters, but rather traveled the world, setting up shop in one city after another, he told the Journal in 2016. The company now has its operational base in Dubai, though it says it doesn’t keep servers there.Mr. Durov maintains a yearslong friendship from his VK days with actor and tech investor Jared Leto, with whom he shares an ascetic lifestyle that eschews meat and alcohol.