With a Net Worth of Trillions Surpassing Bill Gates, CZ's "Red-Faced" Response: Rich My Foot?

Original author: Eric, Foresight News

On the evening of March 10th, Beijing time, Nina Bambysheva, Deputy Editor of the Money & Markets department at Forbes, wrote an article announcing a bombshell piece of news:

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao's net worth has reached $110 billion, ranking 17th globally, surpassing Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg. This marks Changpeng Zhao's first entry into the $100 billion club, making him one of only 20 people in the world with a 12-figure net worth.

What does $110 billion even mean?

Imagine a newborn baby spending 10 million RMB every single day from the day they are born. To spend $110 billion, that baby in the cradle would need to live to be 206 years old.

Faced with the overwhelming discussion, Changpeng Zhao himself quickly responded: "(The estimate of his net worth) is absolutely inaccurate, this (Forbes Billionaires List) is at least for me a 'guess the number' list. Bitcoin / cryptocurrencies are down 50% from their highs." Later, seemingly a bit 'heated up', Changpeng Zhao even vented: "Don't they see how much Bitcoin has fallen? Rich my ass?"

The Fortunes and Misfortunes of a Zodiac Year

When Zhao was released from prison last September, Forbes estimated his net worth at around $60 billion. Yet, in just over a year, the Forbes 2026 Global Billionaires List has once again pushed the boundaries of external perception regarding crypto wealth. The figure of $110 billion represents a surge of over 70% compared to last year's roughly $60+ billion.

From the calamity of imprisonment to a skyrocketing net worth, Changpeng Zhao, born in 1977, has experienced dramatic ups and downs in his 48th year, which is his zodiac year.

In April 2024, he was sentenced to four months in prison by a Seattle federal court on anti-money laundering charges and subsequently incarcerated at the Lompoc II prison in California; Binance paid a record $4.3 billion fine to the U.S. Department of Justice. As part of the settlement, Zhao himself paid a $50 million fine and was forced to resign as CEO.

At that time, the market widely expected that this former "emperor of the crypto world" would be shrouded in long-term legal gloom and wealth shrinkage, as the regulatory hammer seemed to have relegated Binance's valuation to the cold palace. However, reality unfolded contrary to the pessimists' script. After his release, Zhao not only did not sink into obscurity but, riding a series of macro and industry tailwinds, completed a breathtaking leap in his personal wealth.

According to Forbes, Zheng Jie Lim, an analyst at crypto data provider Artemis, stated that Binance is projected to generate revenues between $16 billion and $17 billion in 2024 and 2025, about two and a half times Coinbase's $6.6 billion. With Coinbase's current market capitalization exceeding $50 billion, even simply applying Coinbase's valuation logic, Binance's valuation should reasonably exceed $100 billion.

Forbes reported that Changpeng Zhao owns approximately 90% of Binance's equity, with this portion alone valued at nearly $100 billion. If the 90% figure is accurate, combined with his personal holdings of assets like Bitcoin and BNB, a seemingly random number like $110 billion, as if typed by a cat walking on a keyboard, might not be entirely unfounded.

After Trump's "second term" in 2025, the dramatic easing of the regulatory environment cleared the obstacles for the "legitimacy" and sustainability of this massive fortune. The warming attitude of the Trump administration towards the cryptocurrency industry not only paused the SEC's lawsuit against Binance but also granted Zhao a pardon in October 2025, directly removing the shackles of his identity as a "convict." This policy shift made it possible for Binance to potentially re-enter the U.S. market and accelerate its compliance layout in the Asia-Pacific region.

From massive fines and imprisonment to pardon, regained freedom, and a soaring net worth, the zodiac year curse seems to have performed a "reverse spell" on Changpeng Zhao.

"I Am Not the Richest"

The algorithms used by institutions like Fortune and Forbes to calculate net worth are inherently controversial, which is the root cause of Zhao's long-standing denial of external wealth speculation.

In 2021, Zhao once became the richest Chinese person with a net worth exceeding $90 billion. However, he never acknowledged these figures and once stated on X that he preferred the affectionate nickname "Big Brother CZ" over being called the richest.

As an aside, Zhao indeed cannot be called the "richest Chinese person" now, as ahead of him in eighth place is NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang with a net worth of $154 billion.

Returning to the topic, financial media typically use an "equity + holdings"叠加 model to calculate personal wealth: on one hand, valuing Binance by benchmarking it against a listed exchange like Coinbase and then discounting it based on shareholding比例; on the other hand, fully accounting for his crypto assets like BNB at market price. The problem lies in the fact that Binance has never gone public, lacking audit transparency in its true financial status and equity structure. Furthermore, while Zhao's massive BNB holdings are immensely valuable, their proportion of the circulating supply is so large that it's almost impossible to fully liquidate without causing a market crash.

This flaw in the "paper wealth" calculation algorithm might be the technical reason why Zhao has repeatedly claimed that external estimates are "highly inflated."

Setting aside rational analysis, Zhao, like most wealthy Chinese individuals, is reluctant to flaunt his wealth.

Pinduoduo founder Colin Huang is a representative of this low-key approach. Last year, when Pinduoduo's performance far exceeded expectations, management even provided pessimistic guidance, causing a short-term stock price plunge. This wisdom of "not sticking one's neck out" is also held as a guiding principle by Zhao.

As early as 2021, when he topped the list of richest Chinese with $90 billion, Zhao conveyed through He Yi a low-key stance: "just a digital首富, 99% of wealth is in digital currency, with no property or cars otherwise." When the Hurun Rich List in October 2025 estimated his wealth at 190 billion RMB (approximately $26.7 billion), his response was more direct and even somewhat sarcastic: "Nonsense, divide by 100 and it's about right."

Wealth Brings Social Responsibility

Although he himself still scoffs at the $110 billion figure, insisting that his wealth is overly放大 by the outside world, it is undeniable that in the coordinate system of the global富豪榜, this former hoodie-wearing programmer has firmly secured a seat at the table alongside the old-money giants.

It is worth mentioning that in 2024, Zhao launched a new project called Giggle Academy, aiming to build a completely free, high-quality educational platform open to everyone, addressing the lack of educational resources in many regions globally. The project currently focuses on providing educational content from grades 1 to 12 but is not intended to replace existing educational systems. Instead, it致力于 providing basic education for children who cannot access it.

The content covers basic reading, writing, language, math, science, as well as some high school-level courses like programming and art. Additionally, Giggle Academy will offer courses rarely covered in traditional schools, such as emotional intelligence, negotiation, finance, entrepreneurship, sales, law, accounting, blockchain, and artificial intelligence.

Giggle Academy is completely free and online, using gamified learning methods to激发 children's interest in learning. It employs adaptive curriculum settings to encourage students to develop their areas of strength.

Beyond "doing good," Zhao has also sparked some controversy in the past year due to his remarks on X about Meme tokens. However, this experience of having every word and action infinitely放大 and interpreted is perhaps unavoidable for a public figure. From another perspective, this is also the image Zhao has一直 hoped to build: not as wealthy as they say, not so高高在上, rich people are also human and can make mistakes.