The Wealthiest Person In Crypto Climbs Into World’s 20 Richest!

According to Forbes' 2022 Billionaires rankings, published on Tuesday April 5, Changpeng Zhao, the founder and CEO of Binance, is the wealthiest person in crypto, worth an estimated $65 billion.

That places "CZ," as he is known, as the world's 19th richest person, ahead of well-known American billionaires such as computer entrepreneur Michael Dell and oil tycoon Charles Koch, at the age of 44.

Forbes estimates Binance's market worth to be $92.5 billion (based on March 11 market pricing) and Zhao's ownership position to be at least 70% after speaking with crypto industry analysts and individuals familiar with the company.

Binance, which is privately held, does not provide financial or ownership information. Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange based in the Cayman Islands that operates in over 180 countries through a network of connected businesses, a strategy that has prompted regulatory scrutiny. In the last year, regulators in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong have all issued warnings against the corporation for operating without their license. Bloomberg reported in May 2021 that the United States Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service were investigating Binance for money laundering and tax evasion. Binance said it takes its legal and compliance responsibilities seriously, but declined to respond to specific questions.

Binance has a unique business model that involves issuing its own tokens, known as Binance coin (BNB), to clients and utilizing them as an incentive for trading and recruiting new customers, among the hundreds of crypto exchanges that exist internationally [See Forbes' Global Crypto Exchanges Ranking]. The more BNB coins you own and the more people you bring to the trading platform, the more commissions and discounts you earn in this multi-level marketing scheme. Initially, BNB was primarily used for discount trading, but it has since evolved into a full-fledged cryptocurrency with a variety of payment options on platforms such as competing exchanges like Tycoon.io and Crypto.com.

Binance also does what's known in the crypto space as "burning," or retiring tokens on a regular basis to keep track of the total number of tokens in circulation. Binance ceased burning its native token BNB at a proportionate to profit rate in January 2020, instead choosing for a burn rate connected to trade volume, hiding the public's perception of how much money Binance was making. BNB token has a market valuation of $73 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, a cryptocurrency pricing website owned by Binance. Because CZ's ownership of BNB coins is unclear, Forbes' net worth assessment excludes it.

Coinbase's successful first public offering (IPO) and $42 billion market capitalization (as of March 11, 2022, when Forbes took a global snapshot of billionaires)

CZ previously skirted about his ownership interest in Binance, telling Forbes in January 2021 that he controlled roughly 30% —possibly: "I don't actually know what my net worth is." In the summer, he added, "I'm not too troubled about it." CZ's ownership in Binance, according to persons familiar with the subject who spoke to Forbes on the condition of anonymity, is significantly higher–at least 70%. (Binance subsidiaries registered in the United Kingdom and Malta suggest CZ controls majority holdings in those companies, while the extent of those businesses inside Binance's bigger Cayman Islands holding company is impossible to determine.)

Zhao, like many other crypto millionaires, is a self-made billionaire. In 1977, he was born in Jiangsu, China. His father, a professor, was soon called a "pro-bourgeois genius" and deported temporarily. The family relocated to Vancouver, Canada, in the late 1980s.

CZ helped cover household costs as a teenager by flipping burgers at McDonald's and worked nighttime jobs at a petrol station. He began coding at the age of 16 and went on to acquire a computer science degree at McGill University in Montreal.