Arnault vs Zhao
LVMH and Binance.
The differences
- Forbes puts Bernard Arnault about $4.1B ahead of Changpeng Zhao.Forbes figures from 8 Oct 2026 and 30 Sep 2026.
- Bernard Arnault: inherited and grew it. Changpeng Zhao: co-founded it.
- Bernard Arnault is about 28 years older than Changpeng Zhao.
- Bernard Arnault is from France; Changpeng Zhao is from Canada.
- Changpeng Zhao has held a public or government advisory role; Bernard Arnault has none on record.
Put someone else on either side
Side by side
Arnault
ZhaoThe money
- Net worth, Forbes
- $119BForbes, 8 Oct 2026
- $115BForbes, 30 Sep 2026
- Net worth, Bloomberg
- $133BBloomberg, 13 Oct 2026
- $82.1BBloomberg, 9 Oct 2026
- Forbes rank
- No. 7Annual list, date not stated
- No. 16Real-Time list, 30 Sep 2026
- Billionaire since
- 1997First year on a Forbes billionaires list: Forbes says he 'first appeared on Forbes' list of World's Billionaires in 1997', at an estimated $3.6 billion
- Not stated
Where it came from
- How it started
- Inherited and grew itStarted in his father's construction firm, Ferret-Savinel, and became its chairman in 1978; Forbes says he used $15 million from that business to buy Christian Dior in 1984. LVMH was formed in 1987 by merger and he has led it as majority shareholder since 1989
- Co-founded itBinance lists him as co-founder and says he launched Binance in July 2017; Forbes labels him self-made
- Main source
- LVMH stock, held mainly through Christian Dior and the family holding AgacheBloomberg: 'The majority of Bernard Arnault's fortune is derived from a 49% stake in LVMH'
- Binance, a cryptocurrency exchangeForbes: source of wealth 'Cryptocurrency exchange'
- Companies
- LVMHLVMH: Chairman and CEO
- BinanceBinance: Co-founder and former CEO
- Biggest stake
- LVMH50.33% owned
- Binance100% owned
The person
- Born
- 5 Mar 1949Roubaix, France
- 1977Jiangsu, China
- Country
- FranceLives in Paris, France
- CanadaLives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Education
- Bachelor's degreeÉcole polytechnique
- Bachelor's degreeComputer science degree, McGill University, Montreal
- Parents
- Born to an industrial family; his father ran a construction businessLVMH: 'born to an industrial family'; Forbes: 'His father made a small fortune in construction'
- Mother a teacher, father an academic who took a job at the University of British Columbia; the family moved to Canada in the late 1980sBloomberg profile; Forbes adds that his father, a professor, was temporarily exiled shortly after Zhao was born
What they give
- Giving Pledge
- Not a signer
- Not a signer
- Foundation
- Fondation Louis VuittonCreated by the LVMH group, announced by Arnault in 2006; a corporate foundation rather than a personal one
- Giggle AcademyA free online education platform for children that he founded; described as a platform, not a foundation
- Lifetime giving
- Not stated
- Not stated
Role and record
- Role now
- Runs the companyChairman and CEO of LVMH; chairman of Groupe Arnault
- Founder, no executive roleCo-founder and former CEO of Binance
- Successor
- None named; all five children hold rolesDelphine Arnault is chair and CEO of Christian Dior Couture and an LVMH director; Antoine Arnault joined the LVMH Executive Committee in February 2026; Alexandre and Frédéric Arnault sit on the LVMH board
- Richard Teng succeeded him as Binance CEO in November 2023; co-founder Yi He became co-CEO alongside Teng in December 2025
- Public office
- None found
- Strategic Advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council2025
- Legal record
- 2026: Paris Administrative Court of AppealThe court ordered him and his wife to pay about 22.5 million euros in additional taxes, social contributions, penalties and interest for 2010 and in wealth tax for 2012 to 2015, reversing a 2020 judgment; his representatives said they would appeal to the Conseil d'État.
- 2023: US DOJ; 2023: US CFTC (court order)Pleaded guilty on November 21, 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by causing Binance to fail to implement an effective anti-money-laundering program; Binance separately pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4.3 billion. A federal court in Seattle sentenced him in 2024 to four months in prison, and Forbes reports he paid a $50 million fine. He received a full and unconditional presidential pardon on October 21, 2025. The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois approved the CFTC's settlement with Binance and Zhao and entered a consent order requiring Zhao to pay a $150 million civil monetary penalty.
