CZ Rejects Forbes’ $110 Billion Net Worth Claim: “Absolutely Inaccurate”
Forbes recently unveiled its annual list of global billionaires, making a sensational claim: Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) had seen an astounding surge in his net worth, reaching an estimated $110 billion. This figure, Forbes suggested, would place him above Microsoft founder Bill Gates and secure him the 17th spot globally. However, CZ quickly provided a reality check, swiftly refuting the “deification” attempt. In a series of posts, he pinpointed Forbes’ logical flaws and politely declined a “global 17th richest person” title he deemed detached from reality.
Forbes’ Vision of a “Hundred-Billion Empire”
According to Forbes’ calculations, CZ’s net worth skyrocketed by $47 billion in just one year, culminating in a staggering $110 billion. This remarkable sum not only elevated him to the 17th wealthiest individual worldwide but also inducted him into the exclusive “Hundred Billion Dollar Club,” a group comprising only 20 members globally.
The report detailed that while some of CZ’s secondary assets saw a slight decline over the past year – for instance, his 1,400 Bitcoins decreased in value by 25% to roughly $100 million – his substantial holdings of Binance Coin (BNB) remained stable. Yet, Forbes posited that the true cornerstone of CZ’s soaring wealth remains the formidable cryptocurrency empire he built: Binance.
Despite CZ stepping down as CEO in 2023, Forbes, through extensive interviews with industry insiders and benchmarking against publicly listed competitor Coinbase, estimated Binance’s current valuation at a staggering $100 billion. Furthermore, historical legal documents indicate that CZ holds a substantial 90% equity stake in Binance.
Zheng Jie Lim, an analyst at blockchain data analytics firm Artemis, was quoted in the report stating, “Binance’s estimated revenue for 2024 and 2025 hovers between $16 billion and $17 billion, approximately 2.5 times that of Coinbase ($6.6 billion).”
Lim further elaborated on Binance’s annual trading volume, which exceeds $30 trillion across spot and derivatives markets. Coupled with the BNB Chain (valued at approximately $88 billion) and its expansive ecosystem, Forbes concluded that even with a “valuation discount” due to a lack of explicit U.S. regulatory endorsement, the leading exchange, commanding nearly 38% market share, would still fetch a monumental hundred-billion-dollar price tag if sold.
CZ’s Blunt Rebuttal: “Bitcoin’s Crashed, What Wealth Are They Talking About?”
The unveiling of Forbes’ billionaire list immediately caught CZ’s attention. He took to social media platform X, posting multiple times to directly challenge the publication’s estimates, branding them as completely out of touch with reality:
“This is absolutely inaccurate. To me, it’s just a list of ‘blindly guessed numbers’.”
CZ expressed his incredulity regarding Forbes’ data logic, stating, “I didn’t even bother to click on the article; you just need to glance at the chart to see how wildly wrong it is. Crypto prices in 2026 have already more than halved, yet my net worth is soaring? I really wish they’d apply some common sense and basic logic when writing.”
He even switched to Chinese to air his grievances in a more colloquial tone:
“Don’t they see how much ‘the big pie’ (crypto slang for Bitcoin) has fallen? What wealth are they talking about? 🤣”
To further highlight the absurdity of Forbes’ estimation, CZ drew a direct comparison with traditional tech giants.
He pointed out that, according to public data, ByteDance (parent company of TikTok) boasts an annual revenue of $150 billion, yet Forbes estimated founder Zhang Yiming’s net worth at $69 billion. In stark contrast, CZ revealed that Binance’s estimated annual revenue is around $5 billion (a colossal discrepancy from Forbes’ $16-17 billion projection). He then questioned why his own net worth was being declared at $110 billion, implying a significant over-inflation.
“This is just too wildly off,” CZ quipped in his concluding post. “I guess if I went around today bragging about how rich I am, they’d probably push me down the list, or even kick me off entirely. Mainstream media just loves to contradict you.”
他们也不看看大饼都跌成啥样了？富个鸟啊？🤣 pic.twitter.com/XurAOBch2O
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) March 11, 2026
The Discrepancy: How Was $110 Billion Calculated?
Indeed, upon closer inspection of the Forbes report, it becomes challenging to deduce the $110 billion figure purely from publicly available data.
As of 2026, the cryptocurrency market is navigating a “mini-winter,” with mainstream digital assets and the overall market capitalization having significantly shrunk. Against a backdrop of frozen market trading volumes and a prevailing bearish environment, Forbes’ decision to use revenue data from the 2024-2025 bull market period for its valuation estimation strikes many industry insiders as lacking credibility.
This war of words, sparked by the hundred-billionaire list, not only exposed the “valuation blind spots” often exhibited by Wall Street and mainstream financial media when assessing the nascent cryptocurrency industry but also offered the public a glimpse into the candid nature of this crypto legend, who remains grounded despite immense wealth and fleeting fame.
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