CZ questioned how Forbes estimated his wealth jumped $47 billion in a year when crypto prices fell 50%. He called the ranking a guess. TCC is right, he said.
Alpha Score of 42 reflects weak overall profile with poor momentum, weak value, strong quality, weak sentiment.
Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former chief executive of Binance, pushed back against Forbes' estimate that places his net worth at $110 billion. He questioned the math behind the ranking in a post on X on Tuesday.
Forbes ranked Zhao as the 17th-richest person in the world, above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The publication said Zhao's fortune jumped $47 billion over the past twelve months, even as crypto market prices fell more than 50%.
"How is that last sentence possible?" Zhao wrote, quoting the magazine's own phrasing. "His net worth jumped $47 BILLION in a single year even as crypto prices fell over 50%."
The logic behind the estimate struck Zhao as implausible. Other crypto billionaires saw their paper wealth shrink during the bear market. The surge Forbes attributed to a rebound in the valuation of Binance, which Zhao still owns roughly 90% of, based on the exchange's estimated $16 billion in annual revenue.
Several voices in the crypto community backed Zhao's skepticism. X user TCC (@TCryptochicks) noted that the former CEO has repeatedly dismissed these lists. "These billionaire rankings are estimates, not facts," TCC wrote. "He's repeatedly said the figures are inaccurate and called them a 'guess a number' list."
Zhao replied with a short endorsement: "TCC is right."
The episode highlights the difficulty of valuing privately held crypto firms, especially when public markets offer few direct comparables. Binance does not disclose financial statements, so outside estimates rely on reported trading volumes, fee structures, and deal flow. Zhao's public reframing of the Forbes number as a guess undercuts the certainty implicit in the magazine's headline.
For context on the wider crypto market during that period, see our crypto market analysis. Zhao's own stance on wealth rankings has been consistent: he told Bloomberg last year that he does not track his net worth and called Forbes' methodology "a guess a number".
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.