Since Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was released from prison a little over a year ago after serving time for failure to enforce the Bank Secrecy Act, his estimated net worth has increased by approximately $20 billion.
Archives of Forbes’ website show that it estimated his net worth at approximately $61 billion when he exited prison.
Now, that same publication lists his estimated wealth at $80.6 billion, an increase of nearly $20 billion.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg, which maintains its own net worth list, estimated Zhao’s net worth to be somewhere around $30.8 billion when he exited prison. It now has it at approximately $52.1 billion, an increase of just over $20 billion.
It’s worth noting that Forbes’ previous estimations of Zhao’s net worth indicate that during his four-month prison stay, he could have made up to $25 million for every day he was inside. Two snapshots taken by the outlet on May 7 and July 12 list his fortune as $33 billion and $57.8 billion respectively.
Even assuming the higher of those two numbers for CZ’s June 2 prison entry, this would mean his net worth rose by around $3 billion by the time he walked free.
Interestingly, Bloomberg was far more conservative with its estimates, speculating that CZ actually lost money while in prison.
Read more: CZ called pardon reports false, now he’s applying for one
Forbes’ notes on Zhao include that he “still owns an estimated 90% of the exchange plus a stash of its BNB tokens.”
BNB has seen its price increase by over 80% since Zhao was released from prison.
Zhao has also started re-engaging with the industry, jumping in to endorse Aster, a perpetuals exchange that was funded by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs).
He’s also invested more time in his so-called Giggle Academy, an online platform that advertises itself as “a free online education product for children worldwide.”
He’s also reportedly sought a pardon from the Trump administration.
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