http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Forbes/forbes400-poor-poor-billionaires.aspx
Forbes 400: Poor, poor billionaires
Because of the recession, almost all of America's richest citizens are less wealthy this year, Forbes' annual report finds.
[Related content: rich, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Wal-Mart, Marvel Entertainment]
By Forbes.com
America's superrich are getting poorer. For only the fifth time since 1982, the collective net worth of The Forbes 400,
our annual tally of the nation's richest people, has declined, falling $300 billion in the past 12 months, from $1.57 trillion
to $1.27 trillion.
How to get rich
Faltering capital markets and real-estate prices, along with divorce and fraud, pushed down the fortunes of 314
members and drove 32 plutocrats off the rankings.
Warren Buffett
Hurt the most: Warren Buffett, America's second-richest citizen. The Oracle of Omaha dropped $10 billion from his
personal balance sheet as shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, news, msgs) fell 20% in 12 months. He is now
worth $40 billion.
Beating out Buffett for the 16th straight year as America's richest man is Microsoft (MSFT, news, msgs) co-founder Bill
Gates. Sluggish Microsoft shares and declining outside investments pushed the software visionary's net worth down $7
billion in 12 months. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)
Rounding out the top 10 on The Forbes 400: Oracle (ORCL, news, msgs) founder Larry Ellison ($27 billion); Wal-Mart
Stores (WMT, news, msgs) heirs Christy Walton ($21.5 billion), Jim C. Walton ($19.6 billion), Alice Walton ($19.3
billion) and S. Robson Walton ($19 billion); media maven Michael Bloomberg ($17.5 billion); and energy titans Charles
and David Koch ($16 billion each).
Price of entry falls below $1 billion
The 10 richest Americans lost a combined $39.2 billion in the past 12 months, a 14% decline.
Kirk Kerkorian
Other big losers include casino mogul Kirk Kerkorian, whose nest egg shed $8.2 billion in the past year. Shares of his
gambling giant, MGM Mirage (MGM, news, msgs), have fallen 90% from their October 2007 high.
Also hitting the brakes: Enterprise Rent-A-Car founder Jack C. Taylor. His fortune is down $7 billion in a year as the
travel industry has slowed and private-company valuations have fallen.
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Andrew Beal
The biggest gainer is banker Andrew Beal, who tripled his net worth to $4.5 billion by buying up cheap loans and assets
as the markets crumbled last fall.
Membership on the list was made easier as the price of admission dropped $350 million, from $1.3 billion last year to
$950 million this year, paving the way for 19 newcomers and 19 returnees.
Newcomers to the list include Marvel Entertainment (MVL, news, msgs) chief Isaac Perlmutter, whose net worth
soared to $1.55 billion after Walt Disney (DIS, news, msgs) agreed to buy the superhero outfit in August for $4 billion
in cash and stock.
Other new members include Bloomberg co-founder Charles Zegar ($1 billion), mapping-software magnate Jack
Dangermond ($2 billion) and trading titan Steven Schonfeld ($1 billion).

Slide show: The Forbes 400
New member with Madoff ties
Former New York lawyer and accountant Jeffry Picower makes his debut on The Forbes 400 with a net worth of $1
billion. A longtime investor with Bernard Madoff, Picower is likely worth billions more. (He is alleged to have extracted
billions of dollars from Madoff's fund before it collapsed.)
Video: Battle of the billionaires
Picower and his foundation are identified in a lawsuit by the liquidator for Madoff's investment business, who is seeking
to recover funds allegedly obtained through "fraudulent activity." Picower says that if he'd known Madoff was a fraud he
would not have transferred money into Madoff accounts.
In December, the Picower Foundation shut down after losing its $1 billion endowment in Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The
charity had given millions to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Human Rights First and the New York Public
Library. Picower made his first fortune selling medical-device maker Alaris in 2004.
Comebacks, comedowns and deaths
Among those returning is venture capitalist Michael Moritz, who rode Amazon.com's (AMZN, news, msgs) purchase of
online shoe retailer Zappos and surging Google (GOOG, news, msgs) stock back onto the list.
Divorce forced Google exec Omid Kordestani from the rankings, while R. Allen Stanford lost his billionaire status when
the feds froze his assets after charging him with allegedly running an $8 billion Ponzi scheme.
Several Forbes 400 mainstays also fell off the list, including former Citigroup (C, news, msgs) czar Sanford Weill, mall
developer Matthew Bucksbaum and condo kingpin Jorge Perez.
Six members died, including glass giant William Davidson and newspaper maven Frank Batten Sr.
The Forbes 400 is a snapshot of wealth on Sept. 10, 2009. Gap co-founder Donald Fisher, who ranks No. 296 on the list,
died Sept. 27 at his home in San Francisco at age 81.
The 5 richest:
Rank
Name
1
Bill Gates
2
3
4
5
Net
worth
$50
billion
Warren
$40
Buffett
billion
Larry
$27
Ellison
billion
Christy
$21.5
Walton
billion
Jim Walton
See the full
list
5 energy titans:
$19.6
billion
Age
Residence
Source
Bing and learn more about
53
Medina, Wash.
Microsoft (MSFT, news, msgs)
The founding of Microsoft
79
Omaha, Neb.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A,
Warren Buffett's modest
news, msgs)
lifestyle
65
Redwood City,
Calif.
54
Jackson, Wyo.
61
Bentonville, Ark.
Oracle (ORCL, news, msgs)
Larry Ellison's America's
Cup obsession
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT,
How Sam Walton got his
news, msgs)
start
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT,
news, msgs)
How big is Wal-Mart?
Rank
Name
9
Charles Koch
9
David Koch
24
30
39
Net
worth
$16
billion
$16
billion
George B.
$9.5
Kaiser
billion
Dan Duncan
$8 billion
Harold
$5.8
Hamm
billion
Age
Residence
Wichita,
73
Kan.
Source
Bing and learn more about
The Koch family
Manufacturing, energy
foundations
David Koch's conservative
69
New York
Manufacturing, energy
67
Tulsa, Okla.
Oil and gas, banking
76
Houston
Energy
Oklahoma
Continental Resources (CLR,
Harold Hamm's wildcatter
City
news, msgs)
roots
63
activism
Kaiser's efforts to fight child
poverty
Dan Duncan's big-game
trophies
See the full
list
No longer billionaires:
Name
Age
Sanford Weill
76
New York
Citigroup
Frank and Lorenzo
47 and
Las
Casinos, Ultimate Fighting
Fertitta
40
Vegas
Championship
Jorge Perez
60
Miami
Real estate
Peter Thiel
41
New York
Clarium Capital
R. Allen Stanford
59
Houston
Banking
See the full list
Source
Bing and learn more about
Weill's big-dollar severance
package
Brothers' bet on Ultimate Fighting
Developer's fund-raising for
Democrats
PayPal founder's Libertarian beliefs
The Ponzi-scheme charges against
him