Tether Chairman Giancarlo Devasini Set to Become World’s Fifth-Richest Person After $20 Billion Company Raise

Tether's massive $20 billion funding round rockets chairman Giancarlo Devasini into the global wealth stratosphere—proving stablecoins print real money faster than central banks.

The Wealth Transfer No One Saw Coming

While traditional finance scrambles to understand blockchain economics, Tether's chairman just bypassed decades of legacy wealth accumulation. The $20 billion raise doesn't just validate stablecoin dominance—it rewrites the billionaire playbook entirely.

Crypto's Silent Power Move

Devasini's ascent to fifth-richest person showcases crypto's unique wealth generation mechanics. Unlike traditional IPOs requiring roadshows and regulatory gymnastics, Tether's growth emerged organically from market demand—no Wall Street intermediaries taking their cut.

The New Financial Hierarchy

This wealth milestone signals crypto's maturation from speculative asset to foundational infrastructure. Tether's chairman joining the top five wealthiest individuals represents more than personal success—it's industry validation that would make any traditional banker's bonus look like pocket change.

Tether’s leadership would become richer than every other crypto billionaire

If the company hits that half-trillion number, Paolo Ardoino, who took over as CEO in late 2023, WOULD walk away with around $95 billion. So would former CEO Jean-Louis van der Velde. Another shareholder, Stuart Hoegner, would take home over $60 billion.

That means all four of them would jump past Changpeng Zhao, the Binance founder who’s sitting on $52 billion. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of Circle, the company behind USDC, doesn’t even come close, as he’s at $2.6 billion.

The bank running point on the deal is Cantor Fitzgerald. The firm isn’t just advising. It manages Tether’s reserves and also holds a convertible bond issued by the company. If this placement closes, Cantor gets paid on all sides.

Tether’s profits exploded as USDT circulation soared

The valuation isn’t just smoke. USDT, Tether’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, is the biggest one out there with a market value of $172 billion. Its growth has been tied directly to profits. As more tokens get issued and interest rates stay high, the company earns more off its reserve assets.

In a July blog post, Tether said it earned $4.9 billion in Q2 alone. The company also wrote in its transparency report that it paid out $7.4 billion in dividends in the first half of the year. So, yeah, the money’s real.

The people behind this company didn’t come from Wall Street. Giancarlo, now 61, used to be a plastic surgeon in Italy, but dropped the scalpel after two years. He started flipping DVDs and memory chips, then got into crypto through Bitfinex, an exchange he invested in. He ended up running it.

Later, he joined forces with Brock Pierce (former child actor) and Reeve Collins to launch Tether back in 2014. Giancarlo eventually bought out their shares.

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