Changpeng Zhao worked at McDonald’s in his teens, and isn’t known to indulge in cars, luxury watches, or many of the usual billionaire trappings.
- Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, is the wealthiest person in cryptocurrency.
- The Chinese-born Canadian mogul founded Binance in 2017.
- On November 8, CZ announced that Binance would be buying its biggest competitor, FTX.
Changpeng Zhao is the founder and CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Zhao was born in a rural village in Jiangsu province in China in 1977 to a family of teachers.
When Zhao moved to Canada, he held a number of part-time jobs, according to the Maclean’s report.
Zhao studied computer science at McGill University in Montreal, the same school where his father worked as a visiting scholar.
The vast majority of Zhao’s multibillion-dollar wealth comes from his controlling stake in Binance Holdings, per Bloomberg.
But Zhao’s journey at Binance has been far from smooth sailing — the company has been embroiled in several controversies.
Zhao is known for his rivalry with FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. But in November, FTX suffered what Zhao described as a “liquidity crunch,” and decided Binance would buy the exchange out.
Zhao currently splits his time between Dubai and France, Mustajab said. He was previously based in Singapore.
MARIELLE DESCALSOTA