Among a group of foreigners, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to ask CZ a question.
My question for the evening:
What are your thoughts on He Yi becoming the co-CEO of Binance? And what will be your focus after CZ?
Here is CZ's very candid response:
"To me, this is very natural.
She has always been a co-founder and is outstanding in terms of ideas and strategy. She is extremely hardworking, closely connected with the community, and often active on Twitter and Chinese social media.
He Yi is one of the most diligent and resilient people I have ever seen.
She has always been a co-founder and has had a considerable influence within the company. Therefore, this title merely formally acknowledges her position. I believe she will continue to do well.
Additionally, she is nine years younger than me, which is also natural. I was the CEO at forty, and she is now about to... (confidential)
This is also a natural promotion for her, to lead our larger team, etc. She is just formally taking on this role, but informally she has already been doing it.
Moreover, I think her skills complement those of Richard (another executive) very well.
As for me, when I stepped down as CEO, I cried.
I cried when I was writing that blog at four in the morning in Seattle.
It took me a while to get over it. Then I realized, wait, I have nothing to do. I spent nearly a year in the U.S. doing nothing but skiing, surfing, and so on.
When I came back, the company was running well, and I didn't need to be overly involved. At that time, I thought, life is great, I don't need to go back to that position. I believe in life, we move forward, not backward.
So now, I am more involved in the broader ecological projects within the BNB Chain ecosystem, helping different projects, etc.
I think the Binance team is strong.
People shouldn't stay in a position for too long; we should step down to allow others to grow. I believe this kind of personnel mobility is healthy."