Despite legal challenges, Telegram posts record profit and expands

Telegram has reported a remarkable $540 million profit last year, marking its first annual profit after years of losses. The Dubai-based messaging app’s revenues surged to $1.4 billion in 2024, up from $343 million the previous year, based on a company presentation reviewed by the Financial Times.

This turnaround comes despite ongoing legal threats to its leadership stemming from French investigations into its founder, Pavel Durov.

Sources familiar with the matter say these strong earnings were shared with potential investors ahead of Telegram's $1.5 billion bond offering, launched to repurchase existing debt. The bond sale, which started on Tuesday, could conclude as early as next week.

Telegram’s growth has been fueled in part by a surge in paying users and revenues linked to its cryptocurrency ecosystem. The company reported a shift from a $173 million loss in 2023 to profitability in 2024, highlighting the success of its premium subscriptions, advertising, and a growing "partnerships and ecosystem" segment.

Telegram is built around its open platform that enables developers to create "mini apps" directly within the messaging app, covering sectors like commerce and gaming. This ecosystem runs on the Ton blockchain, originally developed by Telegram but now maintained by the open-source community. Toncoin, the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, is deeply integrated into the app, facilitating payments within mini apps and purchases of Telegram advertisements. Last year, Telegram profited from deals involving Toncoin and sales of its own cryptocurrency holdings.

Despite this strong financial performance, Telegram's future remains uncertain. Pavel Durov, who holds Russian, French, and United Arab Emirates citizenships, was detained by French authorities in Paris in August 2024. He faces charges over the app’s alleged failure to effectively combat criminal content, including child abuse material and terrorism-related posts. Conviction could lead to a prison sentence.

In response to the investigation, Durov has publicly criticized French authorities. He claimed that child sexual abuse was used as a pretext for his detainment, arguing that the true focus was geopolitical. He also alleged that Nicolas Lerner, head of France's domestic intelligence agency, requested that Telegram ban conservative voices in Romania ahead of elections- claims rejected by French intelligence.

Telegram now boasts over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. It operates with a lean internal team of around 60 staff members while outsourcing much of its moderation to contractors.

John Hyman, Telegram's chief investment officer, told investors the company has met all its financial milestones and indicated that a potential initial public offering (IPO) could happen if market conditions improve. However, the French investigation remains a possible obstacle to an IPO, though Telegram expects the case could be resolved within the year.

The bond offering currently being marketed carries a 9% yield and provides investors with an option to purchase shares at a 20% discount during any future IPO, mirroring the terms of prior bond sales. Since 2021, Telegram has issued approximately $2.4 billion in bonds and repurchased $375 million of outstanding debt in late 2024.

Looking ahead, Telegram aims to grow revenues to $2 billion in 2025 — a 46% increase year-on-year — with a projected profit of $720 million. As of February 2025, the company held roughly $530 million in cash, excluding its cryptocurrency assets.

In addition to financial growth, Telegram is expanding into artificial intelligence. The company announced a new partnership with Elon Musk's AI firm xAI, integrating its Grok chatbot into Telegram. They plan to promote Grok within the app and share the resulting revenue. This collaboration marks Grok’s first significant expansion beyond Musk's own platform, X (formerly Twitter). Both Durov and Musk have voiced similar views on free speech, with Musk recently amplifying Durov's criticisms of French intelligence to his 220 million followers, tweeting simply: "Wow".

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