Binance founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao's personal fortune hit a peak of $96 billion in January 2022. Reuters
Binance founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao's personal fortune hit a peak of $96 billion in January 2022. Reuters
Binance founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao's personal fortune hit a peak of $96 billion in January 2022. Reuters
Binance founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao's personal fortune hit a peak of $96 billion in January 2022. Reuters

Billionaires: Binance founder sheds $12 billion from net worth


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Changpeng Zhao

Sam Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty on Thursday of defrauding customers of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, is not the only cryptocurrency founder feeling the heat.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index slashed its estimate of revenue at crypto exchange Binance by 38 per cent after data showed volumes at the company declined this year.

That wiped $11.9 billion from the fortune of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, dropping him to $17.2 billion.

At the time of writing, however, Mr Zhao's net worth had edged up slightly to $18.3 billion, making him the world's 88th richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Mr Zhao, 46, played a role in the events that led to Mr Bankman-Fried being charged by federal prosecutors.

In November, the Binance founder announced he was liquidating a token linked to FTX following a report that Mr Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund Alameda Research also owned a large position in it.

FTX customers rushed to pull money and the exchange was unable to keep up with the surge in withdrawals. Less than a week later, it declared bankruptcy.

That sent Mr Bankman-Fried’s own fortune to zero after peaking at $26 billion in March last year.

The index calculates Binance’s revenue using spot and derivatives trading data from crypto-tracking services Coingecko and Coinpaprika.

Binance gained market share earlier this year, peaking at 62 per cent of total on-exchange cryptocurrency trades in the first quarter, thanks to a zero-fee promotion for popular trading pairs.

Once the offer ended, Binance’s share slid to 51 per cent at the end of the third quarter, according to research company CCData.

Representatives for Binance did not respond to a request for comment.

In recent months, the cryptocurrency exchange has found itself increasingly isolated from the traditional financial system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance in June, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission went after it earlier this year for shirking rules that allowed US users to access Binance.

Regulatory officials claimed the company lacked adequate money-laundering controls, inflated trading volumes and mishandled client assets. Binance disputes the allegations and is fighting them in court.

In June, Bloomberg’s wealth index cut the value of Binance’s US exchange to zero after it announced it would no longer transact in dollars, shrinking volumes dramatically.

Binance US had been valued at $4.7 billion in a March 2022 funding round, while Mr Zhao’s net worth hit a peak of $96 billion in January of that year.

The pain has not been confined to Binance, as regulatory uncertainty and rising interest rates make other investments more attractive.

Spot trading volume at Coinbase Global fell by 52 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to CCData.

Billionaire Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway is being sued by truck-stop chain Pilot Travel Centers. Reuters
Billionaire Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway is being sued by truck-stop chain Pilot Travel Centers. Reuters

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway faces accusations it breached the terms of a more than $10 billion acquisition of lorry-stop chain Pilot Travel Centres by changing the accounting methods used to value part of the deal, according to an unsealed lawsuit.

Berkshire originally acquired about 39 per cent of Pilot Flying J – a lorry-stop provider closely held by Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and his family – for $2.75 billion in 2017.

The deal called for Mr Buffett to buy a controlling share by this year. The billionaire paid $8.2 billion for another 41 per cent stake in January, meaning he now owns 80 per cent of the business, according to the suit.

The deal also gives the Haslam family the right to sell the remaining 20 per cent of the company to Berkshire on January 1, 2024, using the valuation methods applied to the other purchases.

But the family says Mr Buffett’s lieutenants have changed the accounting rules covering the largest US lorry-stop business, cutting the value of the so-called put right.

Pilot has repeatedly objected to Berkshire’s shift to pushdown accounting rules, according to the Delaware Chancery Court complaint, which was made public last week.

Using those rules works to “unfairly harm Pilot and benefit Berkshire”, the chain’s lawyers wrote.

Debbie Bosanek, a Berkshire representative, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Pilot’s suit.

The deal has paid dividends for the Nebraska-based Berkshire, as the Flying J chain’s 750 locations across the country contributed $9.5 billion of revenue and $83 million in net earnings in the first quarter of this year.

Continued strong second-quarter earnings in August sent Class B shares of Mr Buffett’s conglomerate of transport, utility, energy and insurance companies soaring 3.6 per cent to $362.58 – its highest close ever.

The Haslams contend the accounting change will allow Mr Buffett to “grossly devalue” the remaining 20 per cent of the lorry-stop company.

They are asking a Delaware judge to order him to stop using it as a breach of the acquisition agreement. The family’s estimates on how much value could be lost are redacted in the suit.

The Haslams contend a majority of Berkshire appointees – who now control the chain’s board – have frustrated attempts to jettison the pushdown accounting rules and Mr Buffett has refused to provide assurances the remaining 20 per cent will be valued in the same way as the earlier stakes.

Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart is poised to scupper a second lithium takeover. Reuters
Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart is poised to scupper a second lithium takeover. Reuters

Gina Rinehart

Australia’s richest woman may be set to scupper a second lithium takeover in a matter of weeks, building a major stake in Azure Minerals immediately after the miner backed a A$1.6 billion ($1 billion) bid from Chilean giant SQM.

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting said last week that it now held 18 per cent of Azure, slightly short of the 20 per cent level that would require a mandatory takeover offer, but enough to challenge the current bid.

Under the terms of its main offer structure, SQM can pull out if a single shareholder acquires more than 19 per cent of the Perth-based miner – a major hiccup, even if other deal options remain.

Market speculation around Ms Rinehart’s involvement had swirled since SQM’s improved offer went public, driving up interest in the stock.

Earlier in October, the combative iron ore billionaire thwarted a bid for lithium miner Liontown Resources by gradually building a 19.9 per cent stake – ultimately enough to prompt Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer, to withdraw its A$6.6 billion offer, even after extended due diligence.

The flurry of deals in the lithium sector highlights the battery metal’s crucial role in the energy transition.

Watch: The Swedish battery maker powering Europe's switch to electric cars

Many newly founded and previously little-known companies in Australia, where lithium mining is dominated by small and medium-sized companies, have surged as a result, as producers vie for a piece of one of the world’s most promising resources.

While her ultimate game plan is still unclear, Ms Rinehart’s lithium gambit highlights the structural challenges on the horizon for iron ore, the metal on which her fortune was built, as demand in China cools.

It remains lucrative for the time being, however. Last Friday, Hancock’s Roy Hill Holdings said the company’s cash flow from operations was A$3.3 billion in the year through to June, much of which was paid out in dividends.

“You can see Hancock has intent to be involved in the lithium industry,” said Matthew Langsford, a portfolio manager at Terra Capital. “There’s going to be greater competition for those assets that appear to have scale.”

Stan Druckenmiller is investing in two-year Treasuries as he becomes more worried about the US economy. Bloomberg
Stan Druckenmiller is investing in two-year Treasuries as he becomes more worried about the US economy. Bloomberg

Stan Druckenmiller

Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller said he has bought “massive” bullish positions in two-year notes, as he has become more worried about the US economy.

In recent weeks, “I started to get really nervous”, Mr Druckenmiller, founder of Duquesne Family Office, said in a recent interview.

“So, I bought massive leveraged positions” in the short-term notes, he said.

Mr Druckenmiller has joined a number of prominent investors, including Bill Ackman and Bill Gross, in sounding the alarm about the US economy lately.

Mr Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, said last month that he has unwound bearish bets on 30-year Treasuries, because “there is too much risk in the world”.

I started to get really nervous, so I bought massive leveraged positions in the short-term notes
Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller

Unlike Mr Ackman, Mr Druckenmiller said he is keeping bearish wagers on longer-term bonds because he is concerned about swelling government-debt issuance.

But with the new bullish bets on two-year notes, overall he is long on fixed income for the first time since 2020, he said at a Robin Hood Foundation event in New York.

Mr Druckenmiller, who managed money for George Soros for more than a decade, has been predicting a hard landing for the US economy for some time.

He has said that corporate profits could fall by 20 per cent to 30 per cent, and that the value of commercial property would tumble.

In the interview with Tudor Jones, Mr Druckenmiller said he has observed anecdotal evidence that “on the margin, things are getting softer” as pandemic stimulus is “running down rapidly”.

Historically, the simultaneous increases in interest rates, oil and the US dollar have been negative for the economy, he added.

His paired long-short bond bets means that he is expecting the yield curve to steepen, a move that typically happens when the US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates.

Yields on two-year Treasuries jumped to about 5.3 per cent in October, the highest in more than a decade, as investors absorbed Fed chairman Jerome Powell’s pledge to keep rates high for an extended period.

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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Fixtures and results:

Wed, Aug 29:

  • Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
  • Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
  • UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs

Thu, Aug 30: UAE v Nepal; Hong Kong v Singapore; Malaysia v Oman

Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal

Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore

Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong

Thu, Sep 6: Final

TO A LAND UNKNOWN

Director: Mahdi Fleifel

Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa

Rating: 4.5/5

Company%20profile
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Three tips from La Perle's performers

1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.

2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.

3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Scotland v Ireland:

Scotland (15-1): Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Huw Jones, Sam Johnson, Sean Maitland; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (capt); Josh Strauss, James Ritchie, Ryan Wilson; Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist; Simon Berghan, Stuart McInally, Allan Dell

Replacements: Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, D'arcy Rae, Ben Toolis, Rob Harley, Ali Price, Pete Horne, Blair Kinghorn

Coach: Gregor Townsend (SCO)

Ireland (15-1): Rob Kearney; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Jack Conan, Sean O'Brien, Peter O'Mahony; James Ryan, Quinn Roux; Tadhg Furlong, Rory Best (capt), Cian Healy

Replacements: Sean Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Ultan Dillane, Josh van der Flier, John Cooney, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour

Coach: Joe Schmidt (NZL)

Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Have you been targeted?

Tuan Phan of SimplyFI.org lists five signs you have been mis-sold to:

1. Your pension fund has been placed inside an offshore insurance wrapper with a hefty upfront commission.

2. The money has been transferred into a structured note. These products have high upfront, recurring commission and should never be in a pension account.

3. You have also been sold investment funds with an upfront initial charge of around 5 per cent. ETFs, for example, have no upfront charges.

4. The adviser charges a 1 per cent charge for managing your assets. They are being paid for doing nothing. They have already claimed massive amounts in hidden upfront commission.

5. Total annual management cost for your pension account is 2 per cent or more, including platform, underlying fund and advice charges.

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo

Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm

Transmission: eight-speed auto

Price: from Dh122,745

On sale: now

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Museum of the Future in numbers
  •  78 metres is the height of the museum
  •  30,000 square metres is its total area
  •  17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
  •  14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
  •  1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior 
  •  7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
  •  2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
  •  100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
  •  Dh145 is the price of a ticket
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

THE SPECS

2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE

Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors

Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode

Power: 121hp

Torque: 142Nm

Price: Dh95,900

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Updated: November 06, 2023, 5:00 AM`