Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is now the richest Asian person with an estimated net worth of US$96 billion, even without counting his crypto fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Fast facts

  • The daily index ranks the world’s 500 richest people, a list on which the 44-year-old Canadian founder would place 11th, according to the publication.
  • Bloomberg assumes that Zhao holds a 90% stake in Binance, and did not count his crypto holdings citing market volatility.
  • Binance is currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, accounting for over 16% of crypto transactions over the past 24 hours, according to Coingecko, which aggregates data from 550 exchanges globally. 
  • Binance has been facing regulatory scrutiny from multiple countries, with Pakistani investigators becoming the latest to launch a probe into alleged fraud involving a total of  US$100 million.