Zhao's fortune is derived from his controlling stake in Binance, a crypto exchange. Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency-exchange by trading volume, according to its website, and had more than 150 million users as of August 2023.
Binance's revenue of $9.8 billion is calculated using the average of the company's trailing 12-month spot and derivative trading volumes through March 2024, as tracked by research services Coingecko.com and CCData, and the average of transaction fees disclosed on Binance's website, calculated separately for spot and derivative volumes.
It's valued using the average enterprise value-to-sales multiple of publicly-traded peers Coinbase Global Inc, Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd and Riot Platforms Inc and has been discounted by 50% due to institutional, regulatory and related risks. The revenue figure used in the calculation was updated in March 2024 and this led to net worth gain of about $11 billion.
Zhao is credited with 90% of Binance based on his public statements and filings in regions where ownership is publicly disclosed.
He also owns Binance.US, a related US exchange, that was valued at $4.7 billion in a March 2022 fundraising round. He's calculated to own an 86% stake in the firm based on the firm's fundraising history. After it was sued by the Securities & Exchange Commission in June 2023 it announced it would be transitioning to a crypto-only model and would no longer be supporting dollar transactions. Following these actions its value was reduced to zero, causing a $1 billion drop in Zhao's fortune.
The billionaire has said that he's also invested in Bitcoin and Binance Coin. Cryptocurrency held directly by the billionaire isn't included because the amount is unknown.
Hazel Watts, a spokesperson for Binance, said in January 2022 that valuation estimates for Binance were "incorrect and far off" without providing further details. The company didn't respond to a request for comment in October 2023.
