Binance named its co-founder Yi He as co-CEO, alongside Richard Teng, who’s been the firm’s sole CEO since November 2023.
The newly minted co-CEO is the life partner of Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, whom President Donald Trump pardoned last month. Zhao was sentenced to, and served, four months in federal prison, after he pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws.
“Yi has been an integral part of the executive leadership team since the launch of Binance,” Teng said Tuesday during a conference appearance in Dubai.
The appointment is a “natural progression” for He, who “will continue to guide the organization from strength to strength,” Teng said.
Zhao, however, ruled out a return to Binance, in a post on X, when asked.
“Gotta move forward in life. I am retired,” Zhao wrote.
Together, Teng and He will focus on building Web3 infrastructure “to empower people in a more open and fair financial system,” the company said.
“Yi has always played an important role, shaping our culture, driving innovation, and championing a user-first approach across our entire ecosystem,” the company posted Wednesday on X.
Binance emphasized in the post that its “mission remains unchanged: broaden access to crypto, protect users, and accelerate safe adoption worldwide.”
The cryptocurrency exchange has grown to nearly 300 million global users since its founding in 2017.
“I am honored to build alongside Richard, who brings decades of experience in regulated financial markets,” He said in a prepared statement. “Together, we bring diverse perspectives and are confident in leading the future of the industry during this pivotal time, as we responsibly expand our global presence and drive sustainable innovation with our users always at the center.”
Teng on Tuesday also announced the launch of Binance Junior, a supervised digital finance app for users ages 6 to 17, during his speech in Dubai. Binance Junior is parent-controlled, with the aim to help children and teens safely learn about digital finance, the company said.
“Children are our future,” Teng said. “It is essential that we equip them with the skills needed for tomorrow’s financial world.”
Teng took the helm of Binance when Zhao stepped down in 2023. The exchange agreed at the time to pay $4.3 billion to the Justice Department, the Treasury Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Office of Foreign Assets Control to resolve violations related to the Bank Secrecy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the exchange’s failure to register as a money transmitting business.
At his sentencing, Zhao said “[t]he first step to taking responsibility is to fully recognize the mistakes.” But a Binance spokesperson told Banking Dive last month that the news of Zhao’s pardon was “incredible.”
He, with whom Zhao has three children, was among several individuals who wrote the judge in her partner’s case, pleading for leniency,
“His biggest mistake was ignorance,” He wrote at the time, according to the Financial Times. “As a start-up with no fancy background, the founding team members had no legal background, and even most of the early management team members, except CZ, could not even read English, such as myself.”
