Changpeng Zhao
Binance CEO Biography, Age, Net Worth, Wife, House, Cars, Family, Height, Education
Table of Contents
Changpeng Zhao Basic Information
| Stage Name: | CZ |
| Real Name: | Changpeng Zhao |
| Occupation: | Businessman, Investor, and Software Engineer. |
| Date Of Birth/Age: | 5 February 1977 (46 Years Old) |
| Place of Birth: | Jiangsu, China |
| Gender: | Male |
| Nationality: | Chinese-Canadian |
| Marital Status: | In a Relationship |
| Education: | McGill University Montreal, Quebec |
| Height: | 5Ft 5In |
| Net Worth: | $74 Billion |
Changpeng Zhao Biography
The Province of Jiangsu is where Zhao was born in China. He and his family moved to British Columbia’s Vancouver in the late 1980s when he was 12 years old, and they eventually made their way to Canada. In China, he had parents who were both educators. Before being labeled a “pro-bourgeois intellect” and exiled to the countryside not long after Zhao’s birth, his father was a university teacher. Zhao supported his adolescent family by working odd jobs in the service industry, such as serving fast food as a McDonald’s clerk.
In Montreal, Quebec, Zhao studied computer science at McGill University. A businessman, investor, and software engineer from Canada born in China is frequently called CZ. Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, was founded by Zhao, and he serves as its CEO.
Family
Both of his parents were Chinese educators. Zhao’s father was a university professor before being branded a “pro-bourgeois intellect” and banished to the countryside shortly after Zhao was born. As a result of an assault on communists, his family left China. As a result, Zhao and his family experienced severe instability during the 1980s in socialist China. Zhao describes his 12-year-old escape from China after the Tiananmen Square massacre in a blog entry for Binance. When he was twelve, he and his family moved to Canada. In British Columbia’s Vancouver, Zhao’s family made their home.
Parents
His father was once a lecturer at the prestigious University of Science and Technology in Hefei. His parents are both educators. However, not much is known about his mother. Public images of his parents are scarce on the net.
Siblings
There’s no information regarding if he has siblings on not, as he prefers to remain private about his family.
Children
He has a son with Yi He. But, unfortunately, public images of his son aren’t available on the internet.
Lifestyle
Zhao was chosen for an internship in Tokyo after finishing McGill, where he created software to match trade orders while working for a Tokyo Stock Exchange subcontractor. After that, he worked full-time for four years, creating futures trading software at Bloomberg Tradebook.
Fusion Systems, a technology startup renowned for “some of the fastest automated high-frequency trading platforms and systems for stockbrokers,” was founded by Zhao in Shanghai in 2005. Zhao worked on the Blockchain.info development team and was OKCoin’s chief technology officer in 2013. Zhao contributed $500 million through Binance in 2022 to help Elon Musk buy Twitter. In addition, he planned to invest $200 million to acquire a minority share in Forbes in 2022.
He has developed into an enthusiast, promoting apartments and purchasing cryptocurrencies. He began buying Bitcoin in 2014 after developing an interest in cryptocurrencies. He even sold his home to purchase Bitcoin, and by working for several different businesses, he expanded his experience and broadened his interests. In terms of trading, he elevated his company to the highest degree.
But things haven’t always gone smoothly. A number of significant events involving Binance have occurred.
Bitcoin (BTC), valued at $40 million, was taken from Binance in a hack in May 2019. However, everything worked out ultimately, and customers received complete compensation. The majority of Binance’s conflicts have been with authorities. The largest exchange in the world confronted a money laundering investigation in the United States in 2021, and U.K. regulators banned it last year. Zhao has stated that he intends to give up to 99% of his fortune to charity, following in the footsteps of other wealthy business people and investors worldwide.
Girlfriend/Wife
Zhao dated Yi He, a co-founder of Binance and a former host of a Chinese travels television program, for “several years,” according to a Reuters investigation into Binance. Later, she gave birth to a boy in the US. Whether they are married is unknown, as CZ tries to keep the family away from the media.
Net Worth
Zhao was listed as the 136th wealthiest individual in the world by Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a monthly net worth estimated at $13.1 billion as of December 2022. His net worth has considerably increased to about $74 billion due to the increase in coin and asset trading on the financial market.
Cars
CZ is a billionaire in dollars and has the means to acquire his choice of automobiles.
House
CZ has residences in Dubai, Vancouver, and other cities in Europe and Asia. He is presently residing in Singapore.
Career As Binance CEO
The Binance cryptocurrency exchange collected $15 million in an ICO after its launch in July 2017, and trading started on the conversation eleven days later. As a result, Zhao grew Binance into the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume in less than eight months. (as of April 2018). In 2017, Zhao also introduced Binance Coin, a utility cryptocurrency that offers its owners some advantages, including lower trading costs. Finally, Binance introduced Binance Smart Chain, an Ethereum rival that supports smart contracts, in April 2019.
With an estimated net worth of $1.1-2 billion, Forbes ranked him third in their “The Richest People In Cryptocurrency” ranking in February 2018. Zhao established Binance, the American subsidiary of Binance, in 2019—in the US. In 2021, Binance withdrew its proposal to operate a cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), alleging willful evasion of US law and claimed violations of derivatives regulations, filed a lawsuit against Binance and Zhao in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on March 27, 2023. The agency also charged Binance with violating regulations meant to prevent money laundering activities, citing internal emails outlining transactions by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and other suspected criminals.
Binance’s U.S. subsidiary, Binance, was established for regulation purposes. The United States is a distinct branch of the primary Binance. Zhao may have changed course last year to appease regulators and declared the business would give up its nomadic structure.
Investors worldwide are worried that Binance’s monopoly over the market for crypto exchanges presents severe risks to the sector. These dangers have increased since FTX’s collapse. CZ significantly impacted Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire’s decline and collapse.
Early in November 2022, CoinDesk revealed that FTX’s native token, FTT, was supporting the balance sheet of Bankman-Fried’s trading company, Alameda Research. Zhao announced via Twitter that he intended to liquidate Binance’s holdings in FTT “in light of recent revelations that have emerged.” Three years prior, FTX had received funding from Zhao’s business. It sold its equity in 2021 and received a $2.1 billion payout in exchange. Notably, a portion of this payment was made in FTT.
Ultimately, this action made more people aware that the low-liquidity FTT token supported an insolvent FTX-Alameda environment.
Customers rushed to withdraw their money from FTX due to a bank run. But by then, the money was gone because FTX had sent it to Alameda for deals that didn’t work out. Zhao intervened, shocking the markets by saying Binance would acquire FTX. But after a quick round of due research, he backed out of the agreement. He recognized that the damage at FTX, which left an $8 billion hole in the company’s balance sheet, was too severe.
The future of Binance will inevitably be correlated with the end of cryptocurrencies in general, including the scale of the business. As a result, there is no question that regulation will slam in. Given the numerous uncertainties in the sector, it is an eventuality that is critically required given the countless scandals that have rocked the space.
No matter how one looks at it, Binance’s monopoly on the market share is also a cause for worry. While they close their eyes, investors will hope that Zhao and Binance perform better than the other centralized players involved in previous years’ scandals. They will fervently pray that there are no secret plans. But the unfortunate fact is that all they have now is to pray.
The demise of FTX marked a turning point for cryptocurrencies, and Zhao is the one who is carrying the flame. Zhao has easily overcome every challenge, both inside and outside of crypto, with ease, and nothing indicates that he isn’t competent. The duty is still enormous, though.
