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The world has become a wealth wasteland. Like the rest of us, the richest people in the world have endured a financial disaster over the past year. Today there are 793 people on our list of the World's Billionaires, a 30% decline from a year ago.
Of the 1,125 billionaires who made last year's ranking, 373 fell off the list; 355 from declining fortunes and 18 who died. There are 38 newcomers, plus three moguls who returned to the list after regaining their 10-figure fortunes. It is the first time since 2003 that the world has had a net loss in the number of billionaires.
The full list of billionaires
Billionaire Bachelors and Bachelorettes
Billionaire women
Celebrity billionaires
Notable drop offs
The world's richest are also a lot poorer. Their collective net worth is $2.4 trillion, down $2 trillion from a year ago. Their average net worth fell 23% to $3bn. The last time the average was that low was in 2003.
Bill Gates lost $18bn but regained his title as the world's richest man. Warren Buffett, last year's No. 1, saw his fortune decline $25bn as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell nearly 50% in 12 months, but he still managed to slip just one spot to No. 2. Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helú also lost $25bn and dropped one spot to No. 3.
It was hard to avoid the carnage, whether you were in stocks, commodities, real estate or technology. Even people running profitable businesses were hammered by frozen credit markets, weak consumer spending or declining currencies.
Asian slide
The biggest loser in the world this year, by dollars, was last year's biggest gainer. India's Anil Ambani lost $32bn, 76% of his fortune, as shares of his Reliance Communications, Reliance Power and Reliance Capital all collapsed. Ambani is one of 24 Indian billionaires, all but one of whom are poorer than a year ago. Another 29 Indians lost their billionaire status entirely as India's stock market tumbled 44% in the past year and the Indian rupee depreciated 18% against the dollar. It is no longer the top spot in Asia for billionaires, ceding that title to China, which has 28.
Russia became the epicentre of the world's commodities bust, dropping 55 billionaires, two-thirds of its 2008 crop. Among them: Dmitry Pumpyansky, an industrialist from the resource-rich Ural mountain region, who lost $5bn as shares of his pipe producer, TMK, sank 84%. Also gone is Vasily Anisimov, father of Moscow's Paris Hilton, Anna Anisimova, who lost $3.2bn as the value of his Metalloinvest Holding, one of Russia's largest ore mining and processing firms, fell along with his real estate holdings.
Twelve months ago Moscow overtook New York as the billionaire capital of the world, with 74 tycoons to New York's 71.
Staff
