Despite legal woes, Changpeng Zhao closes the year $24B richer than before
Changpeng Zhao experienced a remarkable surge in wealth in 2023, securing the 35th position on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which shows his net worth increasing by an impressive $24 billion this year.
As the former CEO of Binance, Zhao is one of the industry’s most notable figures. He entered the cryptocurrency world in 2013, holding key positions in projects like Blockchain.info and serving as the CTO of OKCoin. Zhao’s pivotal moment came in 2017 when he left OKCoin to start Binance. A successful initial coin offering raised $15 million, propelling Binance to become the top cryptocurrency exchange globally by April 2018.
Zhao’s career, marked by early successes, encountered a significant hurdle in November 2023 following his guilty plea to money laundering charges. This plea led to a hefty $50 million fine, separate from Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ). With prosecutors pushing for an 18-month prison term, Zhao’s admission of guilt also compelled him to step down from his roles as CEO of Binance and chairman of Binance.US’s board.
However, a proxy voting setup enables Zhao to maintain financial stakes in Binance, though it effectively removes his voting privileges. As part of the DOJ settlement, Zhao is barred from active involvement in Binance for three years following the appointment of a monitor. Following Zhao’s resignation, Binance’s former Global Head of Regional Markets, Richard Teng, became CEO.
Zhao, however, has criticized the Bloomberg Billionaires List in the past. In April 2023, when Bloomberg reported a substantial increase in his net worth, placing him at $28.2 billion, CZ refuted these claims, labeling them as “fake news” and asserting that his actual wealth was significantly lower than reported.
While Zhao’s legal challenges and departure from the company’s leadership mark a significant turn in his career, his personal wealth has notably increased, a contrast to the legal and regulatory difficulties he faced over the year.
