In a special article published on Tuesday (25), Bloomberg organized a list of 26 people who are considered the “newly rich”. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao comes in third with a fortune of US$28.2 billion (R$142 billion).
Much of that sum has been earned by CZ over the past few months – or rather recouped – with the recovery of Bitcoin (BTC) and Binance Coin (BNB), the only two cryptocurrencies in which he invests.
According to Bloomberg, Zhao was the 7th highest earner in 2023, earning US$14.6 billion (R$73 billion) in just four months. Enough to take it to the number 49 position of the richest people in the world.
The nouveau riche, according to Bloomberg
Going back to Bloomberg’s list of the new rich, the company made a simple cut, excluding those who were already among the top 300 richest at the end of 2013, have inherited a large portion of their fortune, are over 70 or already retired are.
According to the criteria, Changpeng Zhao appears as the third largest name in the financial industry. The reason for the rise was the establishment of Binance in 2017.
Factoid: Zhao was introduced to Bitcoin by crypto entrepreneur Bobby Lee [irmão do fundador da Litecoin (LTC)] at a poker game in Shanghai.”
However, it is worth noting that CZ itself has already indicated that the media exaggerates these estimates. During the 2021 bull market, Forbes named Zhao the 20th richest person in the world, while Bloomberg ranked him 11th at the same time.
New Bloomberg list is dominated by entrepreneurs who support the crypto industry
While Changpeng Zhao ranks third, the first is also a Bitcoin supporter, Ken Griffin. Founder of Citadel and owner of a $35 billion fortune, its executive has already stated that he was “wrong about cryptocurrencies”.
“Cryptocurrencies have been one of the big stories in the financial industry for the past 15 years”noted Ken Griffin in 2022. “And let me be clear, I was in the naysayer camp at the time. But today’s cryptocurrency market has a market cap of about USD 2 trillion, in round numbers, which indicates I was wrong.”
Between Griffin and Zhao appears Jeff Yass ($34.5 billion), another cryptocurrency enthusiast. Founder of Susquehanna International Group, the merchant donated 100 bitcoins to a political committee in 2022 to fight for the industry. This was the largest political donation in Bitcoin ever recorded in the US.
Finally, the Bloomberg list continues with several other big names. For example, Uday KotakCEO of one of the first Indian banks to support Bitcoin as well Stan Druckenmiller, Todd Boehly, Guillaume Pousaz, After Coleman, John Overdek, David Siegel, Marc rowan, Patrick Collison It is John Collison.
Of the 27 billionaires named by Bloomberg, 14 have already expressed support for cryptocurrencies personally or through their companies. That is, more than half.
The list is completed by the Brazilian André Esteves, chairman of BTG Pactual. Although he said that Bitcoin does not appeal to him, the director still retreated in 2021 and even in the next year he stated that BTC is the new phenomenon of the emerging market. More recently, BTG became the first bank to launch a dollar-backed cryptocurrency.
Source: Live Coins
Barry Siefert is an accomplished journalist and author at The Nation View. He is known for his expertise in the field of cryptocurrency, and has written extensively on the topic. With a background in finance and economics, Barry has a deep understanding of the underlying technology and market forces that drive the crypto industry.
