Zhao Changpeng, founder and chief executive officer of Binance. Photo / Getty Images
He's worth tens of billions of dollars – but, apparently, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao plans to give away his incredible fortune.
According to Bloomberg, the former Macca's worker, who is affectionately known as "CZ", acquired his vast wealth "practically overnight".
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index now places his net worth at US$96 billion (NZ141b), and potentially even higher.
It means his wealth now rivals that of fellow tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page.
The 44-year-old, who was born in China and who is also a Canadian citizen, founded his company in his homeland in 2017, before it was banished by the government.
It now rakes in billions in revenue per year, despite recent crackdowns by US and UK authorities.
But according to Binance's own blog, Zhao's incredible success was kicked off by an incredibly lucky 2013 poker game with former BTC China CEO Bobby Lee and investor Ron Cao.
During the game, Zhao learnt a great deal about cryptocurrency, and the pair apparently urged him to invest 10 per cent of his net worth in bitcoin.
Zhao was convinced, and the following year he "decided to go all-in on crypto by dedicating his life to it", even selling his Shanghai apartment for bitcoin before founding Binance in 2017.
While he faced some early setbacks, including watching the price of bitcoin plummet from $600 to just $200 after his risky investment, just 180 days after founding Binance, it emerged as the world's leading crypto exchange.
"In just six months after its launch, Binance jumped to No. 1 in the crypto exchange rankings, and it stays in that position up to this day," the blog states.
By February 2018, Zhao has gained the attention of Forbes, which estimated his net worth to be up to US$2b at that time.
Forbes was captivated by Binance and Zhao's lightning-fast success story. Reporter Pamela Ambler wrote that: "Seven months ago Binance didn't exist. Since then, its 1.4 million-transactions-per-second capability have attracted 6 million users, making it the world's largest crypto-exchange".
Binance boats more than 1000 employees in more than 40 countries around the world, including Australia.
Zhao also appeared to acknowledge the distinction of being one of the world's richest billionaires, writing on Twitter: "Don't worry about rankings. Focus on how many people you can help."
He plans to give most of it wealth away.
A spokesman for Binance told CNN: "CZ intends to give away most of his wealth, even 99 per cent of his wealth, just like other entrepreneurs and founders."
Zhao later wrote: "Unpopular opinion: instead of wealth rankings, there should be a ranking of charity and philanthropy efforts."
Despite Zhao's mind-blowing fortune, he reportedly enjoys a relatively modest lifestyle. Forbes reports he "doesn't own any cars, yachts nor fancy watches".
Zhao also told Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker in late 2021: "I don't care about wealth, money, rankings" – an anomaly in the often-flashy crypto world.
Binance's success comes despite months of volatility in the crypto world.
In the first few days of 2022 alone, bitcoin has dropped by a huge 12 per cent.
It started the year off sitting on about US$47,000 (NZ$70,000) and now, just 10 days later, the blockchain is worth US$41,721.
Even that is an improvement from the weekend, when bitcoin's price plunged to US$40,672, according to CoinMarketCap, the lowest it's been since September 2021.
That's a massive fall from grace from the coin's all-time high of nearly US$69,000 on November 10 last year.
– with Alex Turner-Cohen
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