Newly released founder of Binance and former CEO, Changpeng Zhao has confirmed that he has no desire to return as the CEO of Binance following rumors of him making a comeback to the company.
Changpeng Zhao who was the CEO of Binance for over 7 years was forced to step down from his role following his legal tussles with United States authorities.
Changpeng Zhao or CZ as he is fondly called has long been replaced by Richard Teng a long-term employee of Binance as CEO.
CZ in a recent interview explained that he has moved on from that chapter and doesn’t want to go back as CEO as the role is too demanding.
“ I don’t think I want to go back”
“I’ve been leading the company for seven years. I enjoyed it. It’s a lot of work. But I think that chapter is that chapter.” CZ stated.
Changpeng Zhao discussed other issues in his interview on life after prison and as an Ex CEO who is now a mere shareholder at Binance.
Offers to sell 90% stake in Binance
CZ revealed that he has gotten a lot of offers to sell his stake in Binance since he left prison. CZ despite no longer being the CEO of the largest Crypto exchange in the world still holds a whopping 90% stake in the company.
His stake in Binance makes up a huge percentage of his wealth which runs into billions of dollars.
When quizzed on the identities of those making the offer and whether he plans to sell, CZ replied that he hasn’t done anything yet but at the same time, he doesn’t plan to hold on to his stake in Binance forever.
“I’m not saying that I’m going to hold onto the equity forever or not,” I’m happy to review every offer, but so far I haven’t done anything. But, you know, I’m just a regular shareholder at this point.” CZ replied.
Changpeng Zhao’s networth grew by $12.1 billion on Wednesday night following Donald Trump’s victory in the polls. The Chinese Canadian is now worth $52.7 billion making him one of the richest men in crypto.
What to Know
- Changpeng Zhao was charged with running a weak anti-money laundering (AML) program while he was CEO of Binance. This violated the Bank Secrecy Act and got him in trouble with US authorities.
- He was also accused of facilitating illicit transactions with sanctioned countries like Iran and Cuba. Binance was billed a fine of $4.3 billion while Changpeng Zhao paid a personal fine of $50 million. He was released on September 27 after completing his four-month sentence.