Changpeng Zhao’s net worth has climbed to US$114.6 billion, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires tracker, up from the US$91.2 billion figure this site reported on Sept. 20. The increase, tracked as of Sept. 28, puts the Binance founder 18th on Forbes’ global real-time ranking.
Forbes attributes the real-time figure to swings in Zhao’s cryptocurrency and Binance-related holdings, chiefly BNB, the token issued by the exchange he founded. BNB traded in the US$760 to US$780 range through the week, according to CoinDesk, up about 12.6 per cent over the past month even as the token slipped roughly two per cent over 24 hours as of Monday morning. CoinDesk attributed the broader rally to resilience across crypto markets, with bitcoin holding above US$84,000 and most assets in its CoinDesk 100 index posting gains.
Zhao’s fortune has swung sharply this year. His net worth jumped US$9.8 billion in a single day around Sept. 20, Forbes reported at the time, a milestone this site also covered. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index separately estimated his wealth had risen 83.6 per cent since the start of 2026 as of that date.
Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering law and served a four-month prison sentence, has previously disputed the precision of outside net-worth estimates, telling reporters earlier this year that such figures amount to a “guess,” since Binance remains privately held. Forbes and Bloomberg base their estimates on Binance’s equity value alongside Zhao’s disclosed token holdings and other assets.
