Changpeng Zhao, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance who served four months in a United States federal prison less than two years ago, has emerged as one of the wealthiest people alive, surpassing Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list with an estimated fortune of $110 billion.
Forbes’ 2026 World’s Billionaires list, based on a snapshot taken as of March 1, values Zhao’s net worth at $110 billion, representing a $47 billion increase from the previous year and placing him 17th on the global wealth ranking. The figure makes him the richest person in the cryptocurrency industry and places him ahead of Gates, whose fortune Forbes now estimates at $108 billion.
Gates’ gradual decline in wealth rankings reflects decades of large-scale philanthropic giving through the Gates Foundation, as well as the financial impact of his 2021 divorce from Melinda French Gates.
A Fortune Built on One Company
The bulk of Zhao’s wealth rests on a single asset: his estimated 90% stake in Binance, which remains the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and market share, commanding roughly 38% of the global crypto exchange market. Forbes values the privately held company, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, at approximately $100 billion, based on revenue multiples derived from comparisons with publicly traded peers such as Coinbase.
Binance is estimated to have generated between $16 billion and $17 billion in annual revenue across 2024 and 2025, significantly above Coinbase’s reported $6.6 billion, while processing more than $30 trillion in annual trading volume across spot and derivatives markets. Its native blockchain network, BNB Chain, carries a separate market capitalisation of approximately $88 billion.
The Legal Journey That Preceded the Comeback
Zhao’s rise from his lowest point has been swift. In November 2023, he pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme at Binance and agreed to pay a $50 million personal fine, while the exchange paid a record $4.3 billion corporate settlement with US authorities. He resigned as chief executive and in April 2024 was sentenced to four months in prison, which he served at a federal correctional institution in California before being released in September 2024.
In October 2025, US President Donald Trump granted Zhao a full presidential pardon, clearing his criminal record. The pardon came after Binance had spent $800,000 on lobbying and after Zhao’s representative met directly with Trump, clearing the way for renewed US business engagement.
CZ Disputes the Figure
The Forbes number is not without controversy. Zhao fired back at the estimate on his X account on March 11, writing that it was “definitely not accurate” and describing the Forbes methodology as a “guess a number” exercise, pointing out that cryptocurrency prices had fallen more than 50% in 2026 and questioning how his fortune could have grown during the same period.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which applies a 50% discount to Binance’s estimated valuation to account for regulatory uncertainty and the exchange’s limited US oversight, puts Zhao’s fortune at approximately $50 billion, less than half the Forbes figure. The discrepancy illustrates the deep difficulty of pricing the fortune of a private company founder whose wealth is concentrated in illiquid equity and cryptocurrency tokens rather than publicly traded shares.
Despite the valuation debate, no competing index disputes that Zhao remains the single wealthiest individual in the global cryptocurrency industry by a substantial margin.
