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Richard Heathcote, the former Chief Investment Officer of Tether Holdings SA, is looking to sell a portion of his 1.26% stake in the company that issues $USDT, according to Bloomberg. He’s tapped investment bank PJT Partners to help find a buyer.
On the surface, 1.26% sounds tiny. But when the company in question is the issuer of a stablecoin with roughly $184 billion in circulation and has been internally evaluating itself for a potential $50 billion fundraising round, even a fractional stake carries serious weight.
What we know about the deal
Heathcote stepped down from his CIO role in March 2026, transitioning to an advisory position at Tether. During his tenure, he oversaw a portfolio valued at nearly $150 billion, making him one of the most consequential fixed-income managers in crypto, if not traditional finance.
The discussions around selling his stake are reportedly still in early stages. No potential buyers have been named, and pricing hasn’t been disclosed.
Here’s the thing: Tether is a privately held company. There’s no public market for its shares. That means any transaction would need to happen through a negotiated secondary sale, which is exactly why PJT Partners, a boutique advisory firm known for handling complex private transactions, is involved.
For context, PJT Partners isn’t some no-name shop. The firm was spun out of Blackstone and regularly advises on multi-billion-dollar deals. Its involvement signals that Heathcote isn’t casually shopping his stake around on a WhatsApp group. This is a structured process.
Tether’s unusual ownership structure
Tether’s ownership has always been one of the more opaque corners of the crypto industry. The company is linked to iFinex Inc. and the Bitfinex exchange, and historically, its equity has been concentrated in very few hands. Back in 2018, reporting indicated that just four individuals controlled about 86% of the company.
That concentration means minority stakes like Heathcote’s 1.26% are among the few pieces of Tether equity that could theoretically change hands. Look, there aren’t a lot of people who own Tether shares, and even fewer who are looking to sell them. That scarcity could make the stake attractive to institutional buyers who want exposure to the stablecoin giant but can’t exactly buy it on Nasdaq.
The broader backdrop here matters too. Tether had been evaluating a potential $50 billion fundraising initiative, which would have been one of the largest capital raises in crypto history. But that effort has been paused, reportedly pending a full audit by a Big Four accounting firm.
In English: Tether wants to raise a massive war chest, but serious investors want to see the books first, audited by one of the four firms (Deloitte, PwC, EY, or KPMG) whose stamp of approval carries weight on Wall Street. Until that audit happens, the big raise sits on ice.
Why this matters for the stablecoin market
Tether is the single most important piece of infrastructure in crypto. $USDT settles more daily transaction volume than most traditional payment networks, and its reserves, primarily composed of US Treasury bills, make Tether one of the larger holders of short-term US government debt globally.
A secondary sale of Tether equity, even a small one, would be notable because it would establish a market-implied valuation for the company. Right now, Tether’s worth is a matter of speculation. If Heathcote’s 1.26% sells at a price that implies, say, a $50 billion or higher total valuation, that becomes a reference point for future fundraising, regulatory discussions, and competitive positioning against rivals like Circle.
The timing is also interesting. Stablecoin regulation is moving forward in the US, with legislation working its way through Congress that could impose new reserve requirements, transparency standards, and licensing frameworks. A valuation benchmark for Tether would give regulators and lawmakers a clearer picture of just how large the entities they’re trying to regulate have become.
For potential buyers, the calculus is straightforward but risky. On one hand, Tether generates enormous revenue from the interest earned on its reserves. When you’re sitting on $184 billion in assets, mostly parked in T-bills, even modest yields throw off billions in annual income. On the other hand, Tether has faced persistent questions about the completeness of its attestations, regulatory exposure across multiple jurisdictions, and the concentration risk inherent in its ownership structure.
The paused $50 billion fundraise adds another layer of uncertainty. If that raise eventually goes through after the Big Four audit, early secondary buyers could see their positions validated, or diluted, depending on the terms. If the audit surfaces issues, the entire valuation picture could shift.
Investors watching this space should pay attention to two things. First, what price Heathcote’s stake ultimately trades at, because that number will echo through every future Tether capital markets conversation. Second, whether the Big Four audit materializes, because that single event has the potential to either legitimize Tether in the eyes of traditional finance or expose gaps that the market has been pricing around for years.