According to Forbes’ 2022 Billionaires rankings, published on Tuesday, April 5, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao is the wealthiest crypto investor, worth an estimated $65 billion.
At 44 years old, “CZ,” as he is commonly called, is the 19th richest person on earth, ahead of well-known U.S. billionaires like Michael Dell and Charles Koch.
As a result of discussions with crypto industry analysts and individuals who are familiar with Binance’s business, Forbes estimates Binance’s market value at $92.5 billion (based on March 11 market prices) and Zhao’s ownership stake at at least 70%.
Official Cayman Islands corporation
Its financials and ownership structure are not available to the public. It has over 180 subsidiaries in over 180 countries, which has resulted in regulatory challenges for Binance, an official Cayman Islands corporation. Japan, the United Kingdom, as well as Hong Kong have all issued warnings concerning the company’s failure to comply with regulators. An article by Bloomberg published in May 2021 said that Binance was being investigated by the U.S federal government over allegations of money laundering and tax evasion. Binance said it takes its legal and compliance obligations seriously, and declined to comment on specific inquiries.
While there are hundreds of crypto exchanges around the world, Binance has a unique business model involving issuing its own tokens to customers, known as Binance coin (BNB), and using them to encourage trading and recruiting new customers. You earn greater commissions and discounts as you earn more BNB coins and more people join the trading platform. BNB was initially used mainly for trading discounts, but now it is a full-fledged cryptocurrency with a variety of payment uses on platforms like rival exchange Crypto.com.