JAN. 4 2018 6:31 PM
The Chairman of Ripple is About As Rich (on Paper) As the Founders of Google
By Aaron Mak
Chris Larsen is the chairman of Ripple.
Ripple
Chris Larsen, the co-founder and executive chairman of the blockchain company Ripple, saw his net worth soar to $59.9 billion (on paper) on Thursday, according to a report from CNBC. This made him—theoretically—one of the five richest people in America, worth more than Google founders Larry Page ($50.7 billion) and Sergey Brin ($49.3 billion).
How did Larsen suddenly leapfrog some of the wealthiest people in the tech industry? The answer lies in the rapid rise of Ripple’s cryptocurrency XRP, the fast-growing cryptoasset of 2017.