5 Things to Know About Yi He, First Crypto Boss on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women List
Binance co-CEO Yi He has turn into the primary crypto-native govt ever named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business record. The 2026 rating positioned her at #64.
Her debut places a single title from the cryptocurrency sector alongside chiefs from finance, retail, and Fortune 500 know-how. The recognition arrives months after Binance formally promoted her to co-CEO in December 2025.
1. She Recruited CZ to Crypto, Not the Other Way Around
Yi He pivoted from Chinese tv into the cryptocurrency sector in 2014. She joined the exchange OKCoin, now often called OKX, as a advertising and marketing govt.
From that perch, she recruited a then-little-known engineer, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), as chief know-how officer. The pair later turned life companions and co-founded Binance throughout the 2017 ICO increase.
Yi He led advertising and marketing, branding, and international consumer development whereas CZ dealt with the know-how stack. Most retellings of Binance’s origin reverse who pulled whom into the digital asset house.
2. She Went from Kerosene Lamps to Multibillionaire Status
Yi He was born in 1986 in a rural Sichuan village with out constant electrical energy or working water. She misplaced her father at age 9 and labored selling tender drinks at 16.
She later labored as a journey tv host and, in her thirties, taught herself English to assist broaden Binance globally.
She reportedly holds a few 10% stake in Binance via a holding firm.
“CZ reportedly owns almost 90% of Binance, whereas his accomplice, co-founder, and the mom of his youngsters, Yi He, controls the remaining 10%,” one consumer highlighted.
That place makes her one of many wealthiest girls within the crypto sector, in accordance to a Fortune profile.
3. Every New Binance Hire Works the Customer Service Line
Yi He constructed Binance round what she calls a user-first philosophy, and she or he enforces it operationally.
New workers, no matter seniority, should spend time dealing with buyer assist tickets.
She additionally engages instantly with customers on X, Telegram, and WeChat, together with responding to rip-off stories. Bloomberg has beforehand referred to as her essentially the most highly effective lady in crypto.
Chinese-speaking communities refer to her as “一姐” (Yi Jie), or “Big Sister Yi.”
4. She Runs an Investment Arm that Bets Far Beyond crypto
Yi He leads YZi Labs, the family-office successor to Binance Labs that rebranded in January 2025. The fund deploys capital throughout Web3, synthetic intelligence, biotech, and different frontier sectors.
YZi Labs reportedly manages greater than $10 billion in belongings throughout over 300 portfolio corporations. The automobile provides her an influence base outdoors the alternate itself.
She co-owns the fund with CZ, with whom she has three youngsters, however was by no means legally married.
5. Her co-CEO Promotion Followed Binance’s Biggest Legal Crisis
Yi spent years as a behind-the-scenes operator earlier than her formal elevation to co-CEO in December 2025. She shares the title with Richard Teng, who handles compliance and regulatory affairs.
The promotion adopted her work steering Binance via CZ’s 2023 responsible plea. That episode included a (*5*) that just about redrew the alternate’s future.
In her response to the Fortune recognition, Yi He framed it as a marker for the trade moderately than a private trophy.
“I’m actually humbled to be the primary crypto-native govt to obtain this recognition on the #FortuneMPW record. Building Binance from the very starting has been an unbelievable journey, and this can be a very private second for me,” she said.
Whether her debut turns into a one-off or the beginning of broader recognition for crypto leaders stays to be seen. Much will rely on how Binance handles its subsequent compliance cycle.
“The recognition could carry my title, but it surely belongs to the Binance staff, Binance customers, Satoshi Nakamoto, and to each member of the crypto group who helped flip this trade from an concept into a world wave,” she added.
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