Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao has reacted to Forbes’ estimate that ranked his net worth among the 20 richest people on the planet, surpassing figures such as Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg.
Binance’s CZ Among 20 Richest People On EarthBy February 10, 2026, Forbes’ real-time tracker listed CZ among the world’s richest individuals at $78.78 billion, while Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index placed his net worth around the $52.2 billion mark around the same time.
According to the list’s latest calculations, Zhao is currently the 17th-wealthiest person on earth, ranking above Bill Gates, whose net worth is at $108 billion. In addition, he sits among the 20 people worth twelve figures.
Forbes acknowledged the crypto market’s downturn, noting that some of his assets, including his estimated 1,400 BTC stash and BNB holdings, have dropped around 25% over the past year.
Conversations with industry insiders and comparisons with other crypto exchanges, including the publicly traded Coinbase, suggest Binance—still the world’s largest crypto exchange, with roughly 38% market share—is worth around $100 billion, and legal filings from the investigation indicate that Zhao owns about 90% of it.
CZ Calls Forbes Estimates A ‘Guess A Number’ ListThe former CEO of Binance, who was pardoned last year by US President Donald Trump, revealed that he did not read the article, but argued that “you know it’s wrong” by just looking at their chart, deeming it a “guess a number” list.
He underscored that his net worth increase didn’t make sense given the current market environment, which has dragged BTC and BNB prices down over 50% from their 2025 peaks and 25% from their 2026 opening values.
Despite this, Forbes has calculated Zhang Yiming’s net worth at $69 billion, ranking 26th on the annual World’s Billionaires list, while CZ’s net worth was estimated at $110 billion.
“I think if I tried to claim I have a high net worth, they will rank me much lower, or maybe even remove me from the list,” Zhao joked, concluding that “They like to estimate the opposite.”
