Behind Tether's $500 Billion Valuation: The Wealth of Its Secret Shareholders

Written by: David｜TechFlow

On September 24, 2025, Bloomberg reported that Tether Holdings, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, is negotiating with investors for a new round of financing and plans to sell 3% of its shares to raise US$15-20 billion.

At the upper end of the range, the deal would value Tether at about $500 billion, making it one of the world's most valuable private companies.

What does a $500 billion valuation mean?

By comparison, OpenAI was valued at approximately $300 billion in March of this year, while SpaceX was valued at approximately $450 billion. Tether's target valuation of $500 billion even exceeds the combined market capitalizations of two top Wall Street giants, Goldman Sachs (US$216 billion) and Blackstone (US$148 billion).

But what’s truly striking isn’t the company valuation itself, but the people behind the number.

Those who directly or indirectly hold Tether shares may become some of the richest people in the history of the cryptocurrency industry if the deal goes through.

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

It wasn't until 2021 that investigative documents from the New York State Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accidentally exposed some equity information; in 2024, the well-known American media Forbes further completed the puzzle through multiple sources.

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

Based on a $500 billion valuation, Tether's largest shareholder, a 61-year-old Italian, would have a fortune of more than $200 billion, surpassing Buffett to become the world's fifth richest person.

Several other core shareholders will also enter the club of billionaires with assets of hundreds of billions or tens of billions of dollars.

These long-hidden super-rich finally have concrete names and faces. Among them are former plastic surgeons, programmers who write code until the early morning, Dutch people who studied Chinese in Taiwan, and even Chinese businessmen serving prison sentences.

Behind every person is an unknown history of wealth accumulation.

Chairman: From plastic surgeon to one of the world's top five richest people

Giancarlo Devasini

Current position: Chairman and CFO of Tether

Shareholding: 47%

Potential net worth: $235 billion (fifth richest person in the world)

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

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

If the $500 billion valuation materializes, he would surpass Buffett to become the world's fifth-richest person, behind Musk, Larry Ellison (Oracle), Mark Zuckerberg and Bezos, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

However, compared with the stability of wealth value, Devasini's life trajectory seems more unconventional.

In 1990, Giancarlo Devasini graduated from the University of Milan Medical School as a plastic surgeon, but two years later, he gave up what seemed to outsiders to be a stable and respectable career.

After leaving the hospital, Devasini entered the IT trade, importing computer components and selling electronics, whatever made money. In 1995, he was ordered by Microsoft to pay a 1 million lira settlement for selling pirated software.

In 2008, a fire destroyed his warehouse and the company went into liquidation, leaving Devasini, then 44, with almost nothing.

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

The cryptocurrency market at the time was even more volatile than it is today. Devasini also keenly identified a problem: Bitcoin and other currencies were too volatile to be used as a payment method.

In 2014, Devasini and technical genius Paolo Ardoino launched a solution: Tether, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, but the journey was not smooth.

Back then, the market was far less receptive to stablecoins than it is today. Concerns abounded about stablecoin reserves, audits, and potential bank runs. Devasini personally pioneered the field, traveling to the Bahamas, Switzerland, and Hong Kong, knocking on the doors of banks one by one, searching for financial institutions willing to open accounts for this dubious project.

In 2016, Bitfinex was hacked and lost 120,000 bitcoins. Everyone thought the company was finished.

Devasini proposed a solution: issuing a debt token, BFX, to distribute to affected users, promising a buyback, while also ensuring Tether's continued operations. The market accepted this seemingly unrealistic solution, and USDT began to experience explosive growth.

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

Devasini directly chose to call funds from Tether's reserves for emergency relief. This decision attracted the attention of the New York Attorney General, who believed that it affected the integrity of USDT's US dollar reserves.

The investigation lasted two years and ended with Tether paying $18.5 million to settle the case without admitting any wrongdoing.

After several crises, Devasini's position has become more solid. Public news and data show that his shareholding 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, Devasini maintains an extremely low profile. He has no social media presence, rarely grants media interviews, and has very few public photos. From 2017 to 2023, he reportedly lived primarily in Lugano, Switzerland, where Tether signed a memorandum of understanding with the city government to promote cryptocurrency applications.

According to the New York Attorney General’s 2021 investigative documents, Devasini played a central role in the operations of Tether and Bitfinex, including handling key matters such as banking relationships and reserve management.

In 15 years, Devasini completed the transformation from a doctor to a 200 billionaire.

CEO : A hard-working coder

Paolo Ardoino

Current position: Tether CEO

Shareholding: Approximately 20%

Potential net worth: $100 billion

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

One never shows up, the other speaks out on Twitter every day; one gains control through capital operations, the other exchanges codes for shares.

In 2017, Ardoino submitted 40,000 code commits on GitHub, an average of more than 100 commits per day. This almost obsessive work intensity has defined the Italian programmer's upward trajectory.

In 2014, he joined Bitfinex as a senior software developer, with his stake unknown at the time; by 2024, Forbes reported that he held approximately 20% of Tether. If the $500 billion valuation materializes, it would represent a $100 billion fortune.

Ardoino and Devasini's fate began in London in 2014. According to CoinDesk, Devasini was running Bitfinex at the time and was impressed by Ardoino's technical skills.

From an ordinary developer to CEO, Ardoino's promotion path is very clear: he was promoted to CTO in 2017 and took over as CEO in December 2023.

But even as CEO, he remained a hard-working individual who worked into the early morning hours. His Twitter account, @paoloardoino, often remained open late at night, answering technical questions. When the media questioned Tether, he would swiftly refute it, for example, by directly calling a critical article in the Wall Street Journal a "clown piece."

This frequent speaking style fills the information vacuum left by Devasini's low profile. In a stablecoin business that requires trust, Ardoino has become the person who allows users to be "visible".

In addition to Tether, he also founded the peer-to-peer technology company Holepunch in 2022. Even with his multiple roles, he admitted that he hasn't taken a formal vacation in nearly ten years.

"I've never been to Japan," he said in an interview . "It's the home of video game consoles and anime, and I've always wanted to go."

In April 2024, Forbes listed Ardoino on its list of the world's cryptocurrency billionaires, with a valuation of $3.9 billion. However, if Tether reaches a valuation of $500 billion, that figure would need to be multiplied by 25. At that point, he would join the club of the world's 100 billionaires.

Former CEO : Taiwanese son-in-law, often goes to temples to pray

Jean-Louis van der Velde

Current position: Tether Advisor, Bitfinex CEO (former Tether CEO)

Shareholding: 10-15%

Potential net worth: $50-75 billion

Of Tether’s executive team, Jean-Louis van der Velde is perhaps the most elusive.

The Dutchman's Asian story began in 1985, when he left his hometown to study Chinese at Taiwan Normal University. After graduating in 1988, he never returned to the Netherlands, according to his LinkedIn profile , and instead planted roots in Asia.

Nearly 40 years later, this international student who studied Chinese may have a fortune worth tens of billions of dollars.

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

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

A 2018 regulatory filing showed he held approximately 15% of Tether. By 2024, his exact stake was no longer publicly disclosed, but Forbes still listed him on its list of crypto billionaires, with a valuation of $3.9 billion. If he still holds 10-15% of the shares, at a $500 billion valuation, his wealth would reach $50-75 billion.

Unlike Devasini's mystery and Ardoino's liveliness, Van der Velde chooses another way of being: present but invisible.

He holds a position and shares, but has made few public comments. Search his name and you'll find a wealth of job titles but almost no personal information.

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

There is very little public information about his personal life. According to his LinkedIn, he is fluent in five languages: Dutch, English, Chinese, German, and French. Beyond that, the most widely circulated detail comes from a report in Taiwanese media:

His wife is Taiwanese, so she is deeply influenced by the local culture. Because the entrepreneurial process was difficult, he would go to a temple in northern Taiwan every year to light candles and pray for blessings. Even if he couldn't go in person, he would ask someone to do it for him.

It's hard to tell whether this detail is true or not, but it does fit his image.

A Westerner deeply influenced by Asian culture, low-key and pragmatic, gradually established an encryption empire in the business soil of the East.

Interestingly, some have even questioned whether Van der Velde actually exists. A Twitter user once jokingly asked, "Has anyone actually met the CEO of Bitfinex?" This is certainly an exaggeration, but it also reflects how low-key he is.

This is different from most KOLs in the current bustling crypto ecosystem. The strong may not need to be high-profile, speak out, or even be seen.

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

Legal Advisor: Resignation, Retirement with Success

Stuart Hoegner

Previous position: General Counsel, Tether/Bitfinex

Shareholding: 13%

Potential net worth: $65 billion

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

Hoegner has a unique identity tag in the crypto world: @bitcoinlawyer. This Twitter account has been active since 2011, three years before the birth of Tether.

While most lawyers are still studying whether Bitcoin is legal, he is already providing legal services to the industry.

In 2014, Hoegner joined Bitfinex and subsequently became Tether's general counsel. In this position, he oversaw both companies for 11 years. According to a 2018 regulatory filing, he held approximately 15% of Tether's shares. By 2024, Forbes reported that this proportion had fallen to 13%.

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

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

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

His background is quite interesting. Before joining the crypto industry, Hoegner worked in the online poker industry. In 2008, while he was working at the Ultimate Bet poker website, the site was exposed to a scandal involving insiders using superuser accounts to cheat.

Interestingly, Daniel Friedberg, another lawyer involved in the Ultimate Bet incident, later became FTX’s Chief Regulatory Officer and played a controversial role in the FTX debacle.

The two former colleagues ended up with different endings in the crypto world.

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

Hoegner chose a delicate time to retire in January 2025. The EU’s MiCA regulation had just come into effect, and the US was also accelerating its regulation of stablecoins.

As legal director, he understands the upcoming regulatory challenges better than anyone else. His retirement may be a premature exit.

If he still holds that 13% stake, the title of "former legal advisor" does not prevent him from becoming the richest lawyer in the crypto industry.

The mysterious fourth largest shareholder disappeared

Christopher Harborne (UK) / Chakrit Sakunkrit (Thailand)

Shareholding: 13% (2018 data)

Potential net worth: $65 billion

On Tether’s shareholder list, there’s a person who’s even more mysterious than Van der Velde; he even has two names.

According to a 2021 New York Attorney General's investigative document, a businessman with dual British and Thai citizenship held approximately 13% of Tether's shares in 2018. In the UK, his name is Christopher Harborne; in Thailand, his name is Chakrit Sakunkrit.

This is the only "outsider" in Tether's equity structure. He is neither a founding member nor a senior executive, yet he holds shares equivalent to those of the general counsel.

Public information about Harborne/Sakunkrit is extremely limited. British company registration records show his involvement in various sectors, from aviation to technology investments. Even less is known about his Thai business activities, except that he conducts business under the name Chakrit Sakunkrit.

How did he acquire his Tether shares, when did he invest, and how much did he invest? These key questions remain unanswered.

What’s even more confusing is that after 2018, the name completely disappeared from all Tether-related documents and reports.

The 2024 Forbes Crypto Rich List lists the aforementioned Devasini, Ardoino, Van der Velde, and Hoegner, but not Harborne.

He's nowhere to be seen in any of the 2025 funding news. A 13% stake, at a $500 billion valuation, would be worth $65 billion. Assuming he still holds a stake, he'd clearly become Tether's most successful hidden 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 period: November 2024

Shareholding: 5%

Investment amount: US$600 million

Potential value: $25 billion

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

At that price, Tether was valued at just $12 billion at the time. By comparison, competitor Circle’s market capitalization was approximately $30 billion, and Tether’s USDT circulation was more than double Circle’s USDC.

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

A key figure in this deal is Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. Shortly after the investment is completed in November 2024, Lutnick is appointed U.S. Secretary of Commerce in January 2025 .

This timeline casts a special light on the Tether acquisition. Critics argue that it was a "friendship price" transaction, where Tether offered benefits to Lutnick, who was about to enter government, at a low valuation.

A more interesting detail is that, according to Fortune magazine, Lutnick’s son, Brandon Lutnick, works at Cantor and previously interned at Tether Switzerland.

Regardless of the motivation, this could be one of the most successful trades in Cantor Fitzgerald's history in terms of return on investment. If Tether reaches a $500 billion valuation, $600 million would become $25 billion, representing a return of over 40x. Even if the valuation only reaches $250 billion, the return would still be 20x.

Founded in 1945, Cantor Fitzgerald is a long-established Wall Street financial institution. Their investment in Tether is significant: it marks the first time a major US financial institution has become a Tether shareholder. Amidst increasing regulatory pressure, the value of this endorsement is difficult to assess.

At the same time, for the past three years, Cantor Fitzgerald has been providing custody services for the government bonds that support the Tether stablecoin, which account for more than 80% of the $132 billion in assets backing the stablecoin.

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

The more practical value may lie in Cantor's financial network. One of Tether's biggest long-term challenges is its banking relationships. As a regulated financial institution in the United States, Cantor's participation could open up new banking channels for Tether.

From another perspective, Cantor's investment represents a shift in Wall Street's attitude towards cryptocurrencies. Instead of simply watching or providing services, investors are now directly becoming shareholders and sharing in the growth dividend.

Howard Lutnick has a dual identity: he was a CEO when he invested and is now the Secretary of Commerce.

Whether or not this has affected the trading price, what is certain is that Tether now has an indirect connection at the highest levels of the US government.

Passive rich in domestic prisons

Zhao Dong

Identity: Bitfinex shareholder, founder of RenrenBit

Holdings: Bitfinex <5%

Potential Wealth: Billions of dollars, indirectly benefiting from the iFinex structure

Zhao Dong may be the most dramatic one in Tether’s wealth creation story.

In August 2016, Bitfinex was hacked, resulting in the loss of 120,000 bitcoins. This Chinese bitcoin investor unexpectedly became a key figure in this crisis.

To compensate for the losses, Bitfinex issued BFX tokens to affected users, with each token representing $1 in losses. Zhao Dong was among those affected, but he chose not to sell his money and instead accepted Bitfinex's debt-for-equity swap.

He acquired more tokens from other users and eventually converted them all into iFinex equity, a decision that transformed him from a victim to a shareholder of Bitfinex.

In April 2017, Bitfinex completed the redemption of all BFX tokens, and users who opted for the debt-for-equity swap became permanent shareholders of the exchange. With the rapid growth of Bitfinex and its affiliate Tether, the value of these early shares has increased dozens of times.

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

Although the proportion is not high, considering that Bitfinex and Tether are both under iFinex and share management and shareholder structure, the value of this equity may far exceed the apparent figure.

Zhao Dong's position in the domestic encryption circle is special and sensitive.

He co-founded Moji Weather and successfully cashed out in 2012. He entered the Bitcoin world in 2013 and reportedly held 10,000 Bitcoins at its peak. He also founded RenrenBit, an OTC trading platform that was once one of the largest OTC brokers in China.

More importantly, he is Tether’s unofficial spokesperson in China.

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

In June 2020, everything came to a halt.

According to multiple media reports, Zhao Dong was taken into police custody on charges of money laundering and illegal business operations. In 2021, reports surfaced that he had been sentenced to several years in prison. While the specific details of the case have never been made public, it is widely believed within the industry to be related to OTC trading.

Ironically, the years when Zhao Dong was in prison happened to be the craziest period in the cryptocurrency market.

From 2020 to 2024, Bitcoin will rise from $10,000 to over $70,000, and the circulating supply of USDT will increase from $10 billion to $170 billion. If his Bitfinex shares were still there, their value would likely have increased dozens of times.

If Zhao Dong's Bitfinex shares had not been disposed of, he could have indirectly benefited from Tether's valuation growth through the iFinex structure. Even an indirect stake of less than 5% would represent billions of dollars in wealth at a $500 billion valuation.

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

Finally, if Tether's financing is completed, it will be the largest wealth creation in the history of the crypto industry.

Fewer than 10 individuals control the majority of Tethter's $170 billion stablecoin empire. Giancarlo Devasini alone holds 47%, while the remaining major players, most of whom are not even in the crypto spotlight.

This may be the wealth code of the encryption era:

It has nothing to do with decentralization, but rather standing at the center of the trend in a low-key manner at the right time.