Forbes' $110B CZ Estimate Called Flawed by Binance Founder

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, has disputed a Forbes estimate that puts his net worth at $110 billion and ranks him 17th on the World's Billionaires list.

The estimate, released Tuesday, suggests Zhao is now richer than Bill Gates. However, Zhao claims this valuation is flawed due to the significant drop in Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto prices over the past year.

Crypto prices have fallen more than 50% in 2026 already, and Binance's revenue is estimated at around $5 billion. Forbes valued Zhao's net worth based on his majority ownership of the exchange, which holds approximately 38% of global crypto trading market share.

Zhao called the estimate 'definitely not accurate' and dismissed the list as a 'guess a number' exercise. He noted that ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming's company generates $150 billion in annual revenue but is valued at only $69 billion by Forbes.