The CEO of Binance’s wealth increased by $25B

Bloomberg has ranked the former CEO of Binance as the world’s 35th richest person, ahead of Ken Gryphon of Citadel and behind Tadashi Yanai of Uniqlo. Since December 2022, Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, has reportedly grown his net worth by approximately $25 billion. As of December 25, CZ’s total net worth stands at $37.2 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of $24.6 billion, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

With this adjustment, the former CEO of Binance rated as the 35th richest person in the world, surpassing both Tadashi Yanai of Uniqlo and Ken Gryphon of Citadel. According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, reportedly became the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $232 billion, a 25% down from an estimated $340 billion in November 2021.

According to the news source, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s net worth increased by $5.77 billion this year to $7.25 billion. Authorities barred Zhao from leaving the country before his sentencing in February 2024, and he could face a maximum of eighteen months behind bars for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. As part of a $4.3 billion deal with U.S. authorities in November, he entered a guilty plea to one count of felonies.

Before his sentence hearing, CZ’s lawyers requested permission from the judge to visit Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; however, the court rejected their request. 

With a $175 million bond, the former CEO of Binance will probably still be able to travel domestically until February. Even if many of Binance’s and CZ’s legal issues havresolved in November, they are still facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that was filed in June. Several enforcement actions are still ongoing by the SEC against Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, Binance, and other cryptocurrency exchanges.