Behind Tether's $500 billion valuation, the wealth history of its secret shareholders

Written by: David | Deep Tide TechFlow

On September 24, 2025, Bloomberg reported that Tether Holdings, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, is in talks with investors for a new round of financing, planning to sell a 3% stake to raise $15-20 billion.

If calculated at the upper limit, this deal would value Tether at approximately $500 billion, making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world.

What does a $500 billion valuation mean?

For comparison, OpenAI was valued at about $300 billion in March this year, while SpaceX was valued at around $450 billion. Tether's target valuation of $500 billion even exceeds the combined market values of two Wall Street giants, Goldman Sachs at $216 billion and Blackstone at $148 billion.

However, what is truly striking is not the company's valuation itself, but the people behind that number.

Those who directly or indirectly hold shares in Tether, if the deal goes through, may become the wealthiest individuals in the history of the cryptocurrency industry.

As a private company registered in the British Virgin Islands, Tether has never proactively disclosed its equity structure. This company, which controls a circulation of $170 billion USDT and almost monopolizes the global cryptocurrency trading infrastructure, has always kept its actual controllers hidden behind the scenes.

It wasn't until 2021 that investigations by the New York Attorney General's office and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unexpectedly revealed some equity information; in 2024, the well-known media outlet Forbes further supplemented this puzzle through various sources.

Based on these fragmented but relatively reliable pieces of information, we can finally outline the wealth map behind Tether.

According to the $500 billion valuation, Tether's largest shareholder, a 61-year-old Italian, would hold over $200 billion in wealth, surpassing Buffett to become the fifth richest person in the world.

Other core shareholders would also enter the billionaire or hundred-millionaire club.

These long-hidden super-rich individuals finally have specific names and faces. Among them are a former plastic surgeon, a programmer who codes until dawn, a Dutchman who learned Chinese in Taiwan, and even a Chinese businessman currently serving time in prison.

Behind each person is a story of wealth accumulation that is not widely known.

Chairman: From Plastic Surgeon to Fifth Richest Person in the World

Giancarlo Devasini

Current Position: Chairman and CFO of Tether

Shareholding: 47%

Potential Net Worth: $235 billion (Fifth Richest in the World)

Giancarlo Devasini may be the most mysterious super-rich individual in the crypto world.

This 61-year-old Italian rarely appears in public, has no social media presence, and few public photos, yet he controls 47% of Tether's shares.

According to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, if the $500 billion valuation becomes a reality, he would surpass Buffett to become the fifth richest person in the world, behind Musk, Ellison (Oracle), Zuckerberg, and Bezos.

However, compared to the stability of wealth, Devasini's life trajectory appears much more erratic.

In 1990, Giancarlo Devasini graduated from the University of Milan Medical School and became a plastic surgeon. Two years later, he abandoned this seemingly stable and respectable profession.

After leaving the hospital, Devasini entered the IT trade, importing computer parts and selling electronics, doing whatever was profitable. In 1995, he was required by Microsoft to pay a settlement of 1 million lira for selling pirated software.

In 2008, a fire destroyed his warehouse, leading to the bankruptcy of his company. At that time, Devasini was 44 years old and returned to a state of having almost nothing.

But it was precisely this bankruptcy that pushed him into the crypto world. In 2012, he invested in the then-obscure Bitfinex exchange and gradually took over its operations.

At that time, the volatility of the crypto market was as extreme as it is today. Devasini also keenly identified the problem: the price fluctuations of BTC and others were too great to be used as payment tools.

In 2014, Devasini, along with tech genius Paolo Ardoino, launched a solution: Tether, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, but the process was not smooth.

At that time, the market's willingness to accept stablecoins was far less than it is today. Concerns about stablecoin reserves, audits, and runs were everywhere. Devasini personally broke ground, flying to the Bahamas, Switzerland, and Hong Kong, knocking on the doors of banks to find financial institutions willing to open accounts for this "suspicious" project.

In 2016, Bitfinex was hacked, losing 120,000 bitcoins, and everyone thought the company was finished.

Devasini proposed a solution, issuing debt tokens BFX to affected users, promising to buy them back while ensuring Tether continued to operate. The market accepted this seemingly pie-in-the-sky plan, and USDT began to grow explosively.

In 2018, Bitfinex had $850 million frozen by payment processor Crypto Capital, facing a liquidity crisis.

Devasini chose to draw funds from Tether's reserves to address the emergency, a decision that caught the attention of the New York Attorney General, who believed it affected the integrity of USDT's dollar reserves.

The investigation lasted two years, and Tether ultimately paid $18.5 million to settle without admitting wrongdoing.

After several crises, Devasini's position became more solid. Public news and data show that his shareholding ratio increased from 43% in 2018 to 47% in 2024.

In March 2025, he was promoted from CFO to Chairman, further consolidating his control.

Now 61 years old, Devasini remains extremely low-key. He has no social media presence, rarely gives media interviews, and has very few public photos. Between 2017 and 2023, he reportedly resided mainly in Lugano, Switzerland, where Tether signed a memorandum of cooperation with the local government to promote cryptocurrency applications.

(Related Reading: The Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Sinks to the Bottom of the Lake, Revealing the Anxiety of "Europe's Crypto Capital" ^1^**)

According to the 2021 investigation documents from the New York Attorney General, Devasini played a key role in the operations of Tether and Bitfinex, including handling banking relationships and reserve management.

In 15 years, Devasini has transformed from a doctor to a billionaire with a $200 billion fortune.

CEO: The Hardworking Coder

Paolo Ardoino

Current Position: CEO of Tether

Shareholding: Approximately 20%

Potential Net Worth: $100 billion

If Giancarlo Devasini is the mysterious brain behind Tether, then Paolo Ardoino is the public face of the company.

One rarely appears, while the other speaks daily on Twitter; one gained control through capital operations, while the other earned shares through coding.

In 2017, Ardoino submitted 40,000 lines of code on GitHub, averaging over 100 submissions per day. This near-obsessive work intensity defined the rise of this Italian programmer.

In 2014, he joined Bitfinex as a senior software developer, with shareholding details unknown at the time; by 2024, Forbes reported that he held about 20% of Tether. If the $500 billion valuation becomes a reality, it would mean a wealth of $100 billion.

Ardoino's connection with Devasini began in London in 2014. According to CoinDesk, at that time, Devasini was operating Bitfinex and recognized Ardoino's technical capabilities.

From a regular developer to CEO, Ardoino's promotion path is quite clear: he became CTO in 2017 and took over as CEO in December 2023.

But even as CEO, he remains the person who works until dawn. His Twitter account @paoloardoino often sees him responding to technical questions late at night. When the media questions Tether, he immediately refutes them, even directly calling a critical article from The Wall Street Journal a "clown article."

This frequent vocal style fills the information vacuum left by Devasini's low profile. In a stablecoin business that requires trust, Ardoino has become the person users can "see."

In addition to Tether, he founded the peer-to-peer technology company Holepunch in 2022. Even with multiple roles, he admits he hasn't taken a formal vacation in nearly a decade.

"I've never been to Japan," he mentioned in an interview, "that's the homeland of video games and anime, and I've always wanted to go."

In April 2024, Forbes listed Ardoino among the world's cryptocurrency billionaires, with a valuation of $3.9 billion. But if Tether reaches a $500 billion valuation, that number would multiply by 25. At that point, he would join the global billionaire club.

Former CEO: The Taiwanese Son-in-Law Who Frequently Visits Temples for Blessings

Jean-Louis van der Velde

Current Position: Advisor at Tether, CEO of Bitfinex (Former Tether CEO)

Shareholding: 10-15%

Potential Net Worth: $50-75 billion

Among Tether's executive team, Jean-Louis van der Velde may be the most elusive.

This Dutchman’s Asian story began in 1985 when he left his hometown to study Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University. According to his LinkedIn profile, after graduating in 1988, he never returned to the Netherlands and instead settled in Asia.

Nearly 40 years later, this former Chinese language student may hold hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth.

Van der Velde's rise in the crypto world has been relatively low-key. In 2013, he became a co-founder and CEO of Bitfinex. According to the company's blog, his responsibilities at the time included "building the holding structure, focusing on developing and investing in fintech and big data-related technologies."

In simpler terms, he was responsible for building the company's framework and external relations.

Regulatory documents from 2018 showed that he held about 15% of Tether. By 2024, his specific shareholding ratio was no longer publicly disclosed, but Forbes still listed him among the crypto billionaires, with a valuation of $3.9 billion. If he still holds 10-15% of shares, at a $500 billion valuation, his wealth would reach $50-75 billion.

Unlike Devasini's mystery and Ardoino's activity, Van der Velde chose another way of existence: present but invisible.

He has a position, has shares, but almost no public statements. Searching for his name reveals a wealth of position information but almost no personal details.

In October 2023, Van der Velde stepped down from his position as Tether CEO, passing the baton to Ardoino. However, he did not leave but transitioned to an advisory role while continuing to serve as CEO of Bitfinex.

Public information about his personal life is scarce. According to his LinkedIn, he is fluent in five languages: Dutch, English, Chinese, German, and French. Besides that, the most widely circulated detail comes from Taiwanese media reports:

His wife is Taiwanese, and he is thus deeply influenced by local culture. Because of the challenges of entrepreneurship, he visits a temple in northern Taiwan every year to light candles and pray for blessings, even if he cannot be there in person, he will have someone do it for him.

The authenticity of this detail is hard to verify, but it does fit his image.

A Western man deeply influenced by Asian culture, low-key and pragmatic, gradually building a crypto empire in the soil of the East.

Interestingly, there are even people who question whether Van der Velde truly exists. Previously, a Twitter user jokingly asked, "Has anyone actually seen the CEO of Bitfinex?" This is certainly an exaggeration but reflects his level of low profile.

This is different from most KOLs in the currently noisy crypto ecosystem; the strong may not need to be high-profile, may not need to speak out, and may not even need to be seen.

Of course, the premise is that you stood in the right position early enough.

Legal Advisor: Leaving, Accomplished and Retired

Stuart Hoegner

Former Position: General Counsel of Tether/Bitfinex

Shareholding: 13%

Potential Net Worth: $65 billion

In January 2025, Stuart Hoegner updated his Twitter bio: from "General Counsel of Bitfinex and Tether" to "Former General Counsel."

Hoegner has a unique identity label in the crypto world: @bitcoinlawyer. This Twitter account has been active since 2011, three years before Tether's inception.

While most lawyers were still studying whether Bitcoin was legal, he was already providing legal services for the industry.

In 2014, Hoegner joined Bitfinex and later became Tether's General Counsel. In this position, he safeguarded the two companies for 11 years. According to regulatory documents from 2018, he held about 15% of Tether. By 2024, Forbes reported that this ratio had decreased to 13%.

As a lawyer, Hoegner's work often found itself at the center of storms. In 2019, when the New York Attorney General investigated Tether's $850 million funding issue, he led the legal team in response. In 2021, when the CFTC issued a $41 million fine to Tether regarding reserve issues, he was also responsible for negotiations.

But unlike typical corporate lawyers, Hoegner is unusually active on social media.

His Twitter not only discusses legal issues but also frequently retweets content supporting Bitcoin and refutes doubts about Tether. This combative stance has made him a well-known figure in the crypto community.

His background is also quite storied. Before joining the crypto industry, Hoegner worked in the online poker industry. In 2008, while working at the Ultimate Bet poker site, the site was embroiled in a scandal involving insiders cheating using superuser accounts.

Interestingly, another lawyer from the Ultimate Bet incident, Daniel Friedberg, later became FTX's chief regulatory officer and played a controversial role in the FTX collapse.

Two former colleagues have taken different paths in the crypto world.

One escorted the company to a $500 billion valuation, while the other witnessed the collapse of the largest crypto empire in history.

Hoegner's retirement in January 2025 came at a delicate time. The EU's MiCA regulations had just taken effect, and U.S. stablecoin regulations were also accelerating.

As the legal head, he understood better than anyone the regulatory challenges ahead. Retirement may have been a strategic withdrawal.

If he still holds that 13% stake, the title of "former legal counsel" does not diminish his potential to become one of the richest lawyers in the crypto industry.

The Disappearing Fourth Mysterious Shareholder

Christopher Harborne (UK) / Chakrit Sakunkrit (Thailand)

Shareholding: 13% (2018 data)

Potential Net Worth: $65 billion

On Tether's shareholder list, there is one person more mysterious than Van der Velde, who even has two names.

According to the 2021 investigation documents from the New York Attorney General, in 2018, a businessman with dual British and Thai nationality held about 13% of Tether's shares. In the UK, he is known as Christopher Harborne; in Thailand, he is known as Chakrit Sakunkrit.

This is the only "outsider" in Tether's equity structure. He is neither part of the founding team nor an executive, yet holds shares comparable to the general counsel.

Public information about Harborne/Sakunkrit is extremely limited. UK company registration records show he is involved in multiple fields, from aviation to tech investments. Information from Thailand is even scarcer, only indicating that he uses the name Chakrit Sakunkrit for business activities.

How he obtained Tether shares, when he invested, and how much he invested remain unanswered key questions.

Even more puzzling is that after 2018, this name completely disappeared from all Tether-related documents and reports.

In Forbes' 2024 list of crypto billionaires, the aforementioned Devasini, Ardoino, Van der Velde, and Hoegner were listed, but Harborne was notably absent.

In the financing news of 2025, there was also no trace of him. A 13% stake, if calculated at a $500 billion valuation, would be worth $65 billion. Assuming he still has equity, he would clearly be Tether's most successful invisible investor.

In a company full of secrets, this person may be the biggest secret.

Wall Street Capital and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce

Institution: Cantor Fitzgerald

Investment Time: November 2024

Shareholding: 5%

Investment Amount: $600 million

Potential Value: $25 billion

In November 2024, Wall Street financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald purchased a 5% stake in Tether for $600 million.

At this price, Tether was valued at only $12 billion at that time. In comparison, competitor Circle had a market value of about $30 billion, while Tether's USDT circulation was more than twice that of Circle's USDC.

Why so cheap? The answer may lie in timing and personal relationships.

The key figure in this transaction is Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. Shortly after completing the investment in November 2024, in January 2025, Lutnick was appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

This timeline casts a special light on the acquisition of Tether shares. Critics argue that this is a "friendship price" deal, where Tether provides benefits to Lutnick, who is about to enter the government, at a low valuation.

An even more interesting detail is that, according to Fortune magazine, Lutnick's son, Brandon Lutnick, works at Cantor and previously interned at Tether in Switzerland.

Regardless of the motivation, from an investment return perspective, this may be one of the most successful transactions in Cantor Fitzgerald's history. If Tether reaches a $500 billion valuation, the $600 million would turn into $25 billion, yielding over 40 times the return. Even if the valuation only reaches $250 billion, the return rate would still be 20 times.

Cantor Fitzgerald, founded in 1945, is an established financial institution on Wall Street. Their investment is significant for Tether: it is the first mainstream U.S. financial institution to become a shareholder of Tether. In the context of increasing regulatory pressure, the endorsement value is immeasurable.

At the same time, over the past three years, Cantor Fitzgerald has been providing custodial services for the U.S. Treasury bonds that support Tether's stablecoin, which account for over 80% of the $132 billion assets backing the stablecoin.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the company earned tens of millions of dollars in commissions for providing this service.

The more practical value may lie in Cantor's financial network. One of Tether's long-standing challenges has been banking relationships. As a regulated financial institution in the U.S., Cantor's involvement may open new banking channels for Tether.

From another perspective, Cantor's investment represents a shift in Wall Street's attitude towards cryptocurrencies. No longer merely observing or providing services, but directly becoming shareholders and sharing in the growth dividends.

Howard Lutnick has a dual identity; he was the CEO during the investment and is now the Secretary of Commerce.

Whether this influenced the transaction price is uncertain, but what is clear is that Tether now has an indirect connection at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

The Passive Billionaire in Domestic Prison

Zhao Dong

Identity: Bitfinex Shareholder, Founder of RenrenBit

Shareholding: Bitfinex <5%

Potential Wealth: Billions of dollars, indirectly benefiting through iFinex structure

Zhao Dong may be the most dramatic figure in Tether's wealth creation story.

In August 2016, Bitfinex suffered a hack, losing 120,000 bitcoins. In this crisis, this Bitcoin heavyweight from China became an unexpected protagonist.

To address the losses, Bitfinex proposed a compensation plan, issuing BFX tokens to affected users, each representing a loss of $1. Zhao Dong was one of the affected users at the time, but instead of choosing to cut his losses, he accepted Bitfinex's debt-to-equity conversion plan.

He acquired more tokens from other users and ultimately converted all these tokens into iFinex equity. This decision transformed him from a victim into a shareholder of Bitfinex.

In April 2017, Bitfinex completed the redemption of all BFX tokens, and users who chose the debt-to-equity conversion became permanent shareholders of the exchange. With the rapid growth of Bitfinex and its affiliate Tether, the value of these early shares has multiplied several times.

According to public reports, Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino stated that Zhao Dong's shareholding in Bitfinex is less than 5%.

Although the percentage is not high, considering that Bitfinex and Tether are both under iFinex, sharing management and shareholder structure, the value of this equity may far exceed the surface number.

Zhao Dong holds a special and sensitive position in the domestic crypto circle.

He is a co-founder of Moji Weather and successfully cashed out in 2012. He entered the Bitcoin world in 2013 and reportedly held 10,000 bitcoins at his peak. He founded the OTC trading platform RenrenBit, which was once one of China's largest over-the-counter traders.

More importantly, he is the unofficial "spokesperson" for Tether in China.

In January 2018, Zhao Dong posted on Weibo that during a meeting with Tether CFO Giancarlo in Tokyo, he saw a bank account balance exceeding $3 billion. As a well-known figure in the crypto circle, his statement attracted widespread attention.

In June 2020, everything came to a halt.

According to multiple media reports, Zhao Dong was taken away by the police on charges related to money laundering and illegal operations. In 2021, reports emerged that he was sentenced to several years in prison. The specific details of the case have never been made public, but it is widely believed to be related to his OTC business.

Ironically, the years Zhao Dong spent in prison coincided with the most frenzied period of the cryptocurrency market.

From 2020 to 2024, Bitcoin rose from $10,000 to over $70,000, and the circulation of USDT grew from $10 billion to $170 billion. If his Bitfinex shares were still intact, their value could have multiplied several times.

If Zhao Dong's Bitfinex shares were not disposed of, he might indirectly benefit from Tether's valuation growth through the iFinex structure. Even with less than 5% indirect equity, at a $500 billion valuation, it would still mean billions of dollars in wealth.

But all of this is hypothetical. His "passive holding" seems more like fate making a choice for him.

In the end, if Tether completes its financing, it will create the largest wealth generation in the history of the crypto industry.

Less than 10 individuals control the vast majority of Tether's $170 billion stablecoin empire. Among them, Giancarlo Devasini alone holds 47%; while the remaining big names, most of whom are not even in the spotlight of the crypto industry.

This may be the wealth code of the crypto era:

Not about decentralization, but standing quietly at the center of the wind at the right time.

Related Links:

1. The Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Sinks to the Bottom of the Lake, Revealing the Anxiety of "Europe's Crypto Capital":

^https://www.techflowpost.com/article/detail_27383.html^