Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is worth $96 billion, pushing him closer in wealth to rivals like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, according to Bloomberg. The estimate of Zhao’s net worth casts a rosy glow on Binance, which has previously tangled with regulators around the world. It also provides a rich assessment of the exchange’s value in the run-up to an IPO of Binance.US, Binance’s U.S. affiliate.
The $96 billion figure, which dwarfs Forbes’ July estimate of $1.9 billion, is based on Binance’s revenue, the value of Zhao’s 90% ownership stake in the global crypto exchange and comparisons with the sales multiples of publicly traded competitors such as Coinbase. Bloomberg estimates that Binance generated at least $20 billion last year thanks to transaction fees of 0.1% or lower on more than $20 trillion in trading volume, according to crypto data provider Nomics.
