Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao was ranked among the “25 financial titans” who made their wealth through “computer-driven trading companies” by Bloomberg.
CZ makes top 3
According to Bloomberg, CZ is worth $28.2 billion and made the bulk of his wealth through his exchange, Binance.
Founded in 2017, Binance is the largest crypto exchange by trading volume — controlling over 50% of the market — and has over 120 million users. As of April 5, Bloomberg estimated its annual revenue to be around $12 billion.
Before founding Binance, Zhao reportedly worked on trading systems and was introduced to Bitcoin by crypto entrepreneur Bobby Lee at a poker game in Shanghai.
After FTX’s collapse in November 2022, Binance has come under intense regulatory scrutiny. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit against the exchange and CZ over breaking trading and derivatives laws.
Meanwhile, Forbes rich list estimates that CZ is worth $10.5 billion as of April 26.
Other crypto-related names on the list
1. Ken Griffin
Griffin is the wealthiest man on the list, with a net worth of $35 billion. The billionaire made his wealth through his hedge fund — Citadel — and popular market maker, Citadel Securities.
The hedge fund has about $59 billion in equities and other investments, while the market maker is valued at $22 billion as of January 2022.
In 2022, Citadel made several crypto-related investments in companies like Silvergate Capital and revealed interest in building a cryptocurrency trading ecosystem.
2. Jeff Yass
The founder of Susquehanna is valued at $33.1 billion. The trading firm is allegedly one of the investors in the OPNX exchange. Other investments made by the company include a $10 million strategic investment into KuCoin in 2022.
3. Uday Kotak
Kotak is valued at $13 billion. His company, Kotak Mahindra Bank, is one of the earliest banks to embrace crypto in India.
4. Stan Druckenmiller
The billionaire is worth $9.9 billion. Druckenmiller is one of the biggest names supporting the crypto industry.
Last year, the billionaire said cryptocurrency could have a “big role” as people seek alternatives to fiat money.
5. Todd Boehly
The Chelsea football club chairman is valued at $6.4 billion. According to reports, his Eldridge investment firm led a debt raise for Digital Currency Group in November 2021.
The firm has also invested in fintech and crypto infrastructure company Cross River and backed crypto exchange and wallet provider Blockchain.com.
6. Guillaume Pousaz
Pousaz is worth $6.3 billion. Financial Times reported that his company’s bet on the crypto industry was unsuccessful because of the significant investor outflows that followed FTX’s collapse in November 2022.
7. Chase Coleman
Coleman is worth $6 billion and is the founder of Tiger Global. The investment fund was one of the investors in the defunct crypto exchange FTX. Recent reports indicate that the $12.7 billion fund experienced a 20% paper loss on its investment, including NFT marketplace OpenSea.
8&9 John Overdeck and David Siegel
Overdeck and Siegel are valued at $5.8 billion, respectively. The two co-founded Two Sigma Investments.
In 2022, Two Sigma partnered to provide data to the popular blockchain information network Chainlink. Its venture capital arm also committed about $400 million to two funds, including crypto investments.
10. Marc Rowan
Rowan is worth $5.6 billion. Rowan co-founded Apollo, which launched Bitcoin custodial services for its institutional clients via a partnership with Anchorage Digital in 2022.
11. André Esteves
Esteves is worth $5.2 billion. He is the controlling shareholder of Banco BTG Pactual — the largest investment bank in Latin America. The bank launched a crypto trading platform in August 2022 and has made several pro-crypto moves since then.
12 & 13 Patrick Collison and John Collison
The Stripe founders are worth $5.1 billion each. Their online payment processing company re-introduced Bitcoin (BTC) payments for users in 2022.
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