Changpeng Zhao built a career in trading software before founding Binance in 2017, turning a small crypto exchange startup into the company that became the main source of his fortune. [1][2][3]
From immigration to trading software
Zhao was born in China to educator parents and moved with his family to Canada as a child. Forbes reports that his father had been labeled a pro-bourgeois intellectual and temporarily exiled, and that Zhao worked at a McDonald's and a gas station as a teenager before studying computer science at McGill University. [2]
After university, Zhao built trading technology in Tokyo and at Bloomberg Tradebook, then founded Fusion Systems in 2005. He later worked in cryptocurrency infrastructure and exchange businesses, experience that supplied the technical and market background for launching a new exchange. [2][1]
Building Binance
Zhao and several colleagues launched Binance in 2017, initially as a small crypto-to-crypto exchange. The platform grew rapidly and founder ownership became the basis of Zhao's fortune. He stepped down as chief executive in 2023 after pleading guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program, a durable governance break in the company's history even though his ownership remained economically important. [1][3]
Founder ownership, rather than exchange trading volume or customer assets, is the key link between Binance's scale and Zhao's personal fortune. Assets held for users and the notional value of transactions on the platform belong to a much broader set of customers and counterparties, so they should not be treated as his personal wealth. [1][3]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 15, 2026.
- Binance Shares Its Recent Response to US Senators Inquiry · Binance
- From Zero To Crypto Billionaire In Under A Year: Meet The Founder Of Binance · Forbes · Feb 7, 2018
- Changpeng Zhao · Forbes · Mar 10, 2026
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