The CEO of a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, claims to have a far lower net worth than what has been published in various mainstream media.
Bloomberg lists Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance and also known as CZ, as one of the “25 financial titans” who have built their fortunes from lending, trading, or investing in financial instruments. According to the study, computer-driven trading firms support the new generation of ultrarich, to which the CEO of Binance belongs.
The chief executive officer of Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, has denied media claims. The news article was based on false information, Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet, and his fortune was far smaller. He cited Bloomberg’s Most Recent Finance Rich List in his tweet.
In response to this claim, CZ said, “Numbers all wrong. I don’t have anywhere near as much. Don’t know why they do this.”
Ken Gryphon of Citadel is rated #1 on the affluent list with a fortune of $35 billion, followed by Jeff Yass of Susquehanna International Group with a net worth of $33.1 billion. Only these two billionaires were ranked above Binance’s CEO.
The list also included a brief account of CZ’s professional background and revealed that Binance has an annual revenue of more than $12 billion. The list also included information about the FTX crisis and identified FTX as Binance’s competition.
According to Bloomberg, the CEO has built much of his fortune through the 2017-founded cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Prior to starting the exchange, he worked on trading systems. Bobby Lee, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and supporter of Bitcoin, introduced him to the first cryptocurrency in the world in Shanghai.
CZ has recently often called out misleading information, rumors, and reporting errors from major media outlets. According to him, the media’s inaccurate representation of the cryptocurrency industry taints public perception of the sector. He frequently labeled news articles from Forbes and Bloomberg as FUD and criticized them for their bias. Forbes was criticized by CZ earlier this year for failing to understand how exchanges operate in a news report.
