On Friday, Changpeng Zhao will step out onto the streets of Long Beach, California as a free man for the first time in months. Since April, Zhao—who everyone knows as “CZ”—has been in federal custody after agreeing to return to the U.S. from Dubai in order to serve a four-month sentence for failing to implement proper anti-money laundering controls at Binance, the giant crypto exchange he founded. During this time Zhao spent around two months at a minimum security prison in the California desert before being transferred to halfway house in Long Beach where, according to a prison official, he would have been able to make supervised excursions and even go to movies.

Now, Zhao will have many more options as he returns to society with a personal fortune of approximately $60 billion—the 25th biggest in the world—and his legal troubles behind him. Zhao did not immediately respond to a direct message inquiry about his plans, and his lawyer told Fortune that he did not wish to be interviewed on the day of his release. Nonetheless, it’s possible to make some informed guesses about his next moves.

On Friday, when he is freed two days ahead of his official release date (if a release date falls on a weekend, inmates leave custody early), he will likely get in a chauffeured car and be taken to a private jet in Long Beach or Los Angeles. His first stop is likely to be Dubai or Paris where his children live with their mother, He Ye, Zhao’s one-time romantic partner who is also a top executive at Binance.

In a 2023 interview with Fortune, Zhao reflected on his brilliant but aloof late father, and expressed concern he had inherited some of his neglectful traits. It is possible Zhao will decide post-prison to make up for lost time by spending more time with his family, including his sister, his son and his mother—all of whom testified to his character and stood by his side at his sentencing this spring.

Those endorsements from his family helped persuade the sentencing judge to accept what some view as a lenient five month sentence. So too did what the judge described as Zhao’s “extraordinary commitments and dedication to philanthropic activity across the planet.”

For now, it remains to be seen to what degree Zhao will turn those philanthropic commitments into concrete activities. Prior to his incarceration, he launched a project called Giggle Academy that pledges to create free, fun and easily accessible learning tools for children across the world.

From Fortune –> Full article by Jeff John Roberts