Zhao vs Peterffy
Binance and Interactive Brokers.
The differences
- Forbes puts Changpeng Zhao about $7.5B ahead of Thomas Peterffy.Forbes figures from 30 Sep 2026 and 5 Sep 2026.
- Both started the company their money comes from.
- Thomas Peterffy is about 33 years older than Changpeng Zhao.
- Changpeng Zhao is from Canada; Thomas Peterffy is from United States.
- Changpeng Zhao has held a public or government advisory role; Thomas Peterffy has none on record.
Put someone else on either side
Side by side
Zhao
PeterffyThe money
- Net worth, Forbes
- $115BForbes, 30 Sep 2026
- $107BForbes, 5 Sep 2026
- Net worth, Bloomberg
- $82.1BBloomberg, 9 Oct 2026
- $104BBloomberg, 11 Oct 2026
- Forbes rank
- No. 16Real-Time list, 30 Sep 2026
- No. 20Real-Time list, 5 Sep 2026
- Billionaire since
- Not stated
- Not stated
Where it came from
- How it started
- Co-founded itBinance lists him as co-founder and says he launched Binance in July 2017; Forbes labels him self-made
- Founded itFormed the business now known as Interactive Brokers in 1977 after buying an American Stock Exchange seat
- Main source
- Binance, a cryptocurrency exchangeForbes: source of wealth 'Cryptocurrency exchange'
- Interactive Brokers stock, held through IBG HoldingsBloomberg: 'The majority of Thomas Peterffy's fortune is derived from Interactive Brokers Group'
- Companies
- BinanceBinance: Co-founder and former CEO
- Interactive BrokersInteractive Brokers: Founder and chairman
- Biggest stake
- Binance100% owned
- Interactive Brokers67.5% owned
The person
- Born
- 1977Jiangsu, China
- 1944Budapest, Hungary
- Country
- CanadaLives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- United StatesLives in Palm Beach, Florida, United States
- Education
- Bachelor's degreeComputer science degree, McGill University, Montreal
- Left university without a degreeAttended the College of Surveying in Hungary; studied at New York University without finishing
- Parents
- 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
- Descended from Hungarian aristocrats who lost nearly everything under Soviet rule; arrived in the US in 1965 at 21 with no moneyForbes profile; parents' occupations not stated
What they give
- Giving Pledge
- Not a signer
- Not a signer
- Foundation
- Giggle AcademyA free online education platform for children that he founded; described as a platform, not a foundation
- Peterffy FoundationEstablished by Peterffy and run by his children; funds the Living Forest Project, Reweaving the Web and One Small Planet
- Lifetime giving
- Not stated
- Not stated
Role and record
- Role now
- Founder, no executive roleCo-founder and former CEO of Binance
- Chair of the boardFounder and chairman of Interactive Brokers
- Successor
- Richard Teng succeeded him as Binance CEO in November 2023; co-founder Yi He became co-CEO alongside Teng in December 2025
- Milan Galik succeeded him as CEO in 2019His son William Peterffy, CEO of One Small Planet, is an Interactive Brokers director
- Public office
- Strategic Advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council2025
- None found
- Legal record
- 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.
- 1980: American Stock ExchangeSettled an exchange disciplinary matter over exceeding options position limits (Rule 904) with a $500 fine, per his FINRA BrokerCheck report.
