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When Forbes tells you you’re worth $47 billion more than last year, most people would pop champagne. Changpeng Zhao decided to publicly call the math into question.
The Binance founder, known universally as CZ, pushed back on Forbes’ March 2026 estimate that placed his net worth between $110 billion and $111 billion. That figure represented a $47 billion jump from the prior year, landing him 17th on the World’s Billionaires list, ahead of Bill Gates at roughly $108 billion. The problem, as CZ pointed out on X: major cryptocurrencies had fallen over 50% from their all-time highs during the same period.
The math doesn’t math
CZ dismissed billionaire rankings as “guess a number” lists. The vast majority of CZ’s estimated fortune comes from a single source: his roughly 90% ownership stake in Binance. Forbes apparently valued that stake at nearly $100 billion, which accounted for the lion’s share of the $110 billion headline number.
Binance is a private company. There are no publicly traded shares, no quarterly earnings calls, no SEC filings with audited financials that anyone can pull up. CZ’s skepticism centers on a straightforward logic chain: crypto prices crash, trading volumes presumably follow, a crypto exchange’s revenue depends on trading volumes — so how does the exchange become worth more?
Forbes vs. Bloomberg: pick your number
The absurdity of the situation became even clearer by late June 2026. Forbes revised CZ’s net worth down to approximately $107 billion. Bloomberg, meanwhile, pegged it at around $78 billion.
That’s a $29 billion gap between two of the most respected financial publications on the planet. Neither can be verified without access to Binance’s internal financials, which the company has historically kept close to the vest.
The legal backdrop
CZ’s wealth conversation can’t be separated from his recent legal history. In 2023, he pleaded guilty to anti-money-laundering violations, a case that resulted in a four-month sentence at a US federal prison. He was released in late 2024.
CZ stepped down as CEO as part of the legal resolution, though his 90% ownership stake means he remains, by far, the dominant economic stakeholder. The company he founded in 2017 has grown into the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally by trading volume.
What this means for investors
The valuation gap between Forbes and Bloomberg, roughly $29 billion by June 2026, illustrates how opaque the crypto industry remains even at its highest levels. If the world’s two most prominent wealth trackers can’t agree on what the largest crypto company is worth, retail investors trying to assess smaller projects and tokens are navigating with even less visibility.
The broader crypto market decline of over 50% from all-time highs creates a particularly tricky environment. The honest answer is that nobody outside Binance knows what Binance is worth. CZ seems to agree.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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