Pavel Durov, the wealthy creator and chief executive officer of popular messaging application Telegram was taken into custody on Saturday night at Bourget airport, situated on the outskirts of Paris, according to French media reports.
TF1 reported on its website that Durov was traveling on his private jet when he was apprehended due to an outstanding arrest warrant in France related to an ongoing preliminary police investigation.
Both TF1 and BFM reported that the investigation centered around the lack of content moderators on Telegram, which law enforcement believed allowed criminal activities to persist unchecked on the messaging platform.
According to TF1, Durov was traveling from Azerbaijan and was arrested at approximately 20:00 (18:00 GMT).
Durov, who Forbes estimates to have a net worth of $15.5 billion, founded Telegram after leaving Russia in 2014 due to his refusal to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he subsequently sold.
Despite pressure from some governments, Durov has maintained that the app, which now boasts 900 million active users, should remain a "neutral platform" and not become involved in geopolitical matters.