Pavel Durov, billionaire co-founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, television channel TF1 reported, citing an anonymous source.
Durov travelled aboard his private jet, TF1 reported on its website, adding that there was an arrest warrant out for him in France.
The 39-year-old had apparently travelled from Azerbaijan and was arrested at around 8 p.m. local time (6 p.m. GMT).
The Russian-born entrepreneur lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and holds dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates.
Durov, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion (£12 billion), left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to close opposition communities on his social media platform VK, which he subsequently sold.
Telegram did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The Russian embassy in France is taking “immediate steps” to clarify the situation.
Citing a representative of the Russian embassy in France, TASS reported that Durov’s team had not lodged any objections with the embassy, but that they were proactively taking “immediate” steps.
Durov and his brother Nikolai founded the messaging app in 2013 and it has about 900 million active users.
Telegram offers end-to-end encrypted messaging, and users can also set up “channels” to quickly spread information to followers.
