Chinese whiz kid, Justin Sun, is the original founder of TRON, a decentralized operating system and blockchain that houses TRX and stablecoin USDD. He currently is a diplomat for Grenada and is CEO of the file-sharing platform BitTorrent, Inc. As of 2023, Justin Sun has an estimated net worth of $300 million.
Early Life
On July 30, 1990, Justin was born in the Chinese city of Xining, Qinghai. However, there is a scarcity of information concerning his early years and family background.
He went to Beijing in 2007 to attend Peking University. Four years later, he graduated from the institution with a bachelor’s degree in arts and history. Sun relocated to the United States to pursue higher education.
At the University of Pennsylvania, he graduated with a master’s degree in East Asia Studies. He was also chosen by fellow entrepreneur Jack Ma to attend his elite business school, Hupan University. Justin graduated in 2018.
Career Beginnings
In 2011, Sun was the cover figure of the international affairs magazine Yazhou Zhoukan. He had a similar role for Davos Global Youth Leaders in 2014. The same year, he worked for crypto payment solutions company Ripple Labs.
While at Ripple Labs, he was an advisor and chief representative who worked on the voice live streaming app Peiwo. It became a very popular platform among Chinese teens.
The TRON ecosystem was launched by Justin Sun in 2017. With it, he created the native cryptocurrency Tronix (TRX) and a stablecoin named Decentralized USD (USDD).
Further Ventures
A year after the creation of TRON, Justin acquired BitTorrent for $140 million. BitTorrent is now called Rainberry, Inc. In 2019, he made headlines after paying $4.6 million to have a dinner date with the famed investor Warren Buffet. This is a perfect example of his willingness to spend money to get media attention to promote his crypto projects.
In 2021, the internet entrepreneur dove into NFTs. He developed an NFT investment fund to purchase the $22 million Picasso and Warhol digital artwork. He fell short of acquiring the record-breaking $69 million Bepple NFT at Christie’s auction.
Later that year, he stepped down as the CEO of TRON and became a World Trade Organization representative for Grenada. He also won the New Shepard auction to be one of the first paying passengers to go to space on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket.
Net Worth and Earnings
As a corporate executive and owner of multiple cryptocurrencies, Justin is among the top 50 richest people in crypto. While he is no longer head of the TRON blockchain, he still holds considerable investments in his previous company and its cryptocurrency.
In 2022, when there was a trend of stablecoins dropping in value, the Chinese whiz kid announced that he would inject $2 billion into the TRON DAO reserve to protect USDD’s peg. This hints that Justin is willing to do what it takes to secure his $300 million fortune.
Personal Life
Justin Sun is a private man, and he keeps most of his personal affairs to himself. His relationship status hasn’t been revealed yet. However, as a diplomat of the country, it is known that he lives somewhere in Grenada. Presumably he has done this mainly for tax purposes.
