He’s one of the richest people on the planet – but apparently, this crypto entrepreneur owes it all to one seriously lucky game of poker.
He’s worth tens of billions of dollars today – but apparently, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s incredible fortune is the result of a single poker game.
According to Bloomberg, the former Macca’s worker, who is affectionately known as “CZ”, acquired his vast wealth “practically overnight”, with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index now placing his net worth at US$96 billion – or 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, Mr 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, Mr Zhao learnt a great deal about cryptocurrency, and the pair apparently urged him to invest 10 per cent of his net worth in Bitcoin.
Mr 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, Mr Zhao has gained the attention of Forbes, which estimated his net worth to be up to US$2 billion at that time.
Forbes was captivated by Binance and Mr Zhao’s lightning-fast success story, with reporter Pamela Ambler writing 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.
But despite Mr Zhao’s mind-blowing fortune, he reportedly enjoys a relatively modest lifestyle, with Forbes reporting he “doesn’t own any cars, yachts nor fancy watches”.
Mr 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 (A$65,000) and now, just 10 days later, the blockchain is worth US$41,721 (A$57,000).
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 (A$95,000) on November 10 last year, representing a loss of almost A$28,000 (A$38,000).
– with Alex Turner-Cohen
Originally published as Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s $96 billion crypto fortune sparked by poker game
For all the latest Lifestyle News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
