Pavel Durov's Double Life

Ms. Bolgar said Mr. Durov was not always truthful. When she asked him about a news report in 2014 that said Mr. Durov had a separate family, he denied it. Later, Ms. Bolgar learned the truth when the couple’s driver brought a bag of presents to celebrate the new year that seemed to be for Mr. Durov’s other family. “The driver mixed up the lists and brought the gifts for older children,” she said. Mr. Durov has often projected an ascetic persona. But Ms. Bolgar said he enjoyed the opulent lifestyle. In one message to her, he mused about the cost of a $20,000-a-night Dubai hotel and which suite to stay in. “I can do it because I made tens of millions of easy money on Bitcoins,” he told her. He also focused on his image, she said, obsessing over fitness and having a friend who owns an agency representing swimsuit models take photos of him for social media. He told her to “come see how people on the Forbes rich list live” and, another time, sent her a picture of him holding a rented baby lion.

Скриншот англоязычного газетного текста о Павле Дурове: в нём описываются предполагаемая вторая семья, роскошный образ жизни, биткоины и фотография с арендованным львёнком. Комический эффект для мема создаёт абсурдное сочетание богатства, самопрезентации и бытовой нелепости с перепутанными подарками.

• @jemalloc / 1757 2024-10-03