Messaging app 'Telegram' achieves profitability

Dubai-based messaging app Telegram has reportedly achieved its first profit since its founding, with total revenue reaching $1 billion.

Telegram is now profitable 🏆

📈 This year, the number of Telegram Premium subscribers tripled, exceeding 12 million. Our ad revenue also increased a few times. Telegram's total revenue in 2024 surpassed $1 billion, and we are closing the year with more than $500 million in cash…

— Pavel Durov (@durov)

December 23, 2024

Pavel Durov says Telegram is now profitable | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/23/pavel-durov-says-telegram-is-now-profitable/

Telegram founder says messaging app profitable for first time
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-12-telegram-founder-messaging-app-profitable.html

According to founder and CEO Pavel Durov, Telegram has issued roughly $2 billion in bonds over the past four years, but plans to repay a significant portion of them in the fall of 2024 and turn a profit in its third year by working on monetization.

Telegram began monetizing its premium service through paid subscriptions and advertising in 2021. It is estimated that there are about 950 million Telegram users worldwide, of which the number of premium service subscribers is expected to triple to 12 million by 2024.

In addition, advertising revenue has increased several-fold, bringing revenue to over $1 billion, and the company expects to end the year with $500 million in cash (approximately 78.6 billion yen) excluding virtual currency.

Telegram has often been accused of being used for criminal purposes, and in August 2024, CEO Durov himself was arrested in France.

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov reportedly arrested in France - GIGAZINE

The charges were that he had failed to crack down on extremist and illegal content on Telegram, and Durov was released on conditions such as 'reporting to the police twice a week' and 'not traveling outside French territory.'

Durov acknowledged that Telegram's rapid growth has made it easy for it to be 'misused,' but said that 99.999 percent of its users are not involved in criminal activities.