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ToggleA year and a half ago, CZ had just walked out of a California prison. After Binance faced a full-scale investigation by the US government, CZ pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering mechanism, personally paid a $50 million fine (Binance paid an additional $4.3 billion), resigned as CEO, and served four months in prison. Seventeen months later, the situation has completely reversed.
According to the latest Forbes annual list of the world's billionaires, CZ's net worth has soared to a record high of $110 billion, an increase of $47 billion from last year, placing him among the top 20 billionaires in the world with a net worth exceeding $100 billion.
Binance is valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, with CZ holding 90% of the shares, making him the core of its wealth.
Some of CZ's assets have not performed well over the past year—the value of his approximately 1,400 Bitcoins has fallen by 25% to about $100 million; the value of his large holdings of BNB tokens (believed to account for the majority of circulating BNB) has also remained flat.
However, the true core of CZ's wealth remains Binance. This UAE-based private company does not release detailed financial statements, but industry insiders estimate, and compared to the publicly traded Coinbase, Binance—currently the world's largest crypto exchage with approximately 38% market share—is valued at around $100 billion. Legal filings show that CZ holds approximately 90% of Binance's shares.
Zheng Jie Lim, an analyst at encrypted data provider Artemis, told Forbes:
Binance's revenue is estimated at $16 billion to $17 billion in 2024 and 2025, which is about 2.5 times Coinbase's $6.6 billion revenue.
Binance processes over $30 trillion in trading volume annually in the spot and derivatives markets and operates a wide range of businesses related to its proprietary blockchain network, BNB Chain (valued at $88 billion). Forbes notes that even with a significant discount due to Binance's primary operation outside the US regulatory framework, the exchange could still fetch hundreds of billions of dollars if sold.
Trump's pardon and the collaboration with World Liberty catalyzed a surge in CZ's net worth.
CZ's soaring wealth is highly correlated with Trump's return to power. Last March, Binance agreed to accept the USD1 stablecoin from World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's crypto project, as payment for a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX in Binance, providing a significant boost to World Liberty.
Just six months later, in October, Trump granted CZ a full pardon. Last month, CZ appeared at the World Liberty forum in Mar-a-Lago, officially returning to American business and social circles. It's worth noting that in November, Trump claimed, "I don't know who he is," and denied that the pardon was related to business dealings between the two.
With compliance concerns still looming, Binance is accused of firing a whistleblower investigator.
Despite this, questions surrounding Binance's compliance have not subsided. In recent weeks, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times have all reported allegations that Binance recently dismissed its top investigators—those who identified up to $1 billion in funds flowing to sanctioned Iranian entities. This mirrors previous accusations leveled against Binance by the US government. Binance denies these allegations and defends its compliance plans.
Gates' net worth shrank due to philanthropy and divorce, placing him two places behind CZ.
CZ's ranking on the Forbes Billionaires list has surpassed many traditional Wall Street giants, including Bloomberg co-founder and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg (worth approximately $109 billion), quantitative trading guru Jeff Yass ($67.4 billion), and hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin ($49.8 billion).
Most notably, CZ has officially surpassed Bill Gates, who held the title of the world's richest person for many consecutive years. Gates' net worth has dropped to approximately $108 billion due to his large-scale charitable donations over the years and his divorce from Melinda French Gates in 2021, ranking him 19th in the world—two places below CZ and $2 billion less.
