Binance CEO CZ richest crypto billionaire at $96B: Bloomberg

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, tops the list of richest crypto billionaires with an estimated net worth of $96 billion.

According to Bloomberg CZ ranks 11th among the world’s richest people as Binance retains its position as the biggest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume.

CZ, the 44-year-old crypto entrepreneur, overtook Asia’s richest billionaire Mukesh Ambani despite Bloomberg excluding his personal crypto holdings such as Bitcoin (BTC) and the exchange’s in-house Binance Coin (BNB) tokens.

The industry is growing.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) October 26, 2021

According to Bloomberg’s estimation, CZ stands just behind Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose net worth currently leads by roughly $11 billion. While this was the first time Bloomberg estimated CZ’s fortune, Binance’s growth trajectory signals a possibility of exceeding tech goliaths such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Currently, Zuckerberg, Page and Brin and rank 5th, 6th and 7th respectively, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk ranking leading the billionaires’ list with an estimated fortune of $263 billion.

*Top 10 richest billionaires. Source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index.*

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirm that the price of BNB appreciated over 1,300% in the past year alone. If calculated, CZ will become the first crypto entrepreneur to enter the top 10 billionaires list.

*Price performance of BNB token FY 2021. Source: TradingView.*

Related: Former Binance execs say exchange is worth $300B: Report

The success of Binance globally can be attributed to CZ’s ongoing efforts to accrue operational licenses across all jurisdictions globally. Despite regulatory hurdles, Binance maintains an ongoing partnership and acquisition streak to remain a leader in the crypto trading space.

Most recently, the crypto exchange finalized the acquisition of Swipe, a prominent crypto Visa card provider that operates at over 70 million locations worldwide. In addition, Binance also launched a $1 billion initiative to fast-track the development of the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem and advance mainstream adoption across the financial technology sector.