When Yi He was a girl in the 1980s, she walked to the well for water and relied on kerosene lamps at times to light the house. Things are different now. Today, Yi He is a celebrity to millions of Chinese and a multibillionaire thanks to her reported 10% stake in the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, where she wields enormous influence as a cofounder and senior executive. Still, life has not been easy.
Binance’s other cofounder, the flamboyant Changpeng Zhao, went to prison last year in the United States as part of a $4 billion plea deal. The situation created a huge business challenge for Binance and for Yi He, a painful personal one since Zhao was not only the company’s CEO but is the father of her young children.
