Meet Chinese crypto king Zhao Changpeng: a former McDonald’s worker turned Binance billionaire who now hosts lavish dinner parties at his Dubai mansion, and was once richer than Mukesh Ambani
- Zhao Changpeng once sold his flat to buy bitcoin and now his cryptocurrency exchange is the world’s biggest – but once said he thinks philanthropy is more important than wealth rankings
- He is often seen in the UAE, having bought a house in Dubai, and was spotted mixing with royalty and celebrities at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last December
Since then, tech stocks have taken a tumble, seeing him slip back down the rankings, but still the Chinese Canadian has astounded many with his sudden rise to ultra-wealthy status.
Zhao has been called a pioneer for his daring take on cryptocurrency, but his courage has clearly worked. Known as “CZ” in crypto circles, the businessman is now keen to teach others how to enter this opaque and often poorly understood world. On his company Binance’s blog page, he even answers questions from fans, which has helped turn him into a cult figure in the business.
But what is there to know about the man himself?
Who is he?
Zhao was born in China’s Jiangsu province. When he was 12, his father, who was a university professor, was exiled as China was going through the Cultural Revolution at the time. The family moved to Vancouver, Canada, and in a Binance blog post, Zhao claims to have done odd jobs to support his family, even working at McDonald’s.
Zhao studied computer science and, in 2013 during a poker game, he was encouraged to put some money into bitcoin. In a company blog post, he said he later got so invested in bitcoin that he even sold his flat to buy more. In 2017, he founded cryptocurrency exchange Binance, and after a wobbly start, focused on creating high volumes at low fees. The strategy worked and now Zhao is raking in the cash.
The varying numbers
Bloomberg reports its estimate of his wealth is based on Zhao’s 90 per cent stake in Binance, which has profited hugely from the cryptocurrency boom. Fortune says that the varying estimates of Zhao’s wealth are because “little is known about the finances of Binance”. They do go on to say that Binance is the world’s biggest crypto exchange, processing as much as US$170 billion in trades in a day, but that the company does not disclose its financial reports.