The country has lost 14 billionaires from 2008

"Billionaire Bust" ("the demolished billionaires"), soberly as the latest edition of "Forbes". For its 23rd annual ranking, millionaire Steve Forbes magazine cannot see the damage of the crisis on this population which is abruptly decreased to a quarter and weight gold has been halved. They are more than 793 billionaires in the world, against 1.125(5) last year. It is the first time since 2003 that the classification is losing members.

The "financial tsunami", as it was called the former President of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan has spared person financial, real estate magnates, landlords oil none has withstood the wave. Some saw their fortunes disappear from one day to the next day, as Icelandic billionaire Bjorgolfur Peterson (owner of Landsbanski) or the German Adolf Merckle (pharmacy, chemistry, cement), who committed suicide. No surprise Wall Street have been ejected from the saint Greenberg (AIG). Others, who have wagered Backwashing as investor John Paulson, saw their fortune grow (they are 44 in all).

Devastating effect

The date of February 13, 2009, the total net value of the members of the rankings for 2009 amounted more than 2,400 billion dollars against 4,400 billion in 2008. Are the Indians (29 emerged from list to leave only 24), Russians (two-thirds have been evicted) who have been most affected by the crisis. The yo-yo in the price of raw materials has had a devastating effect. Anil Ambani, the Indian billionaire who had added $ 24 billion to his fortune last year, is the biggest loser this year. It dropped to 34th place after losing 31.9 billion in 2008! And Moscow, which had acceded last year to the enviable title of the capital of the world of billionaires, had to make his Crown in New York, which has still 55 while the Russian capital has more than 27. "Typically, billionaires have lost one-third of their value last year", observes Steve Forbes. Even with 100 billionaires less this year, the United States find their rule with a total of 469, the net value represents 1,100 billion. The only wealth grew in the Top 20 is the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. The first French, Bernard Arnault (LVMH, also owner of the "voices"), is the sixteenth (ranked thirteenth last year), before Liliane Bettencourt (21st).

Even the trio of head has been changed. The storm on Wall Street melted the fortune of the Investor Warren Buffett of 25 billion dollars, the Mexican Carlos Slim of 25 billion and Bill Gates of 18 billion. But as it has less lost the other, the founder of Microsoft becomes the richest man in the world.

1 Adding, 10 deletions

Only 38 people have entered this year, and "for each new added name on the list, ten other have disappeared", said the pattern of "Forbes". The American John Paul Dejoria (261e), which companies sell shampoo and tequila, appears for the first time and Wang Chuan-fu (559e), which makes batteries for electric cars in China. The country has lost 14 billionaires from 2008. Less brighter, the King of cocaine, sought by all the policies of America of the North, the Mexican Joaquin Guzman Loera, is also included this year at the top.

Among the young, the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has already been delisted, as Hind Hariri, the daughter of the late Lebanese Prime Minister.

Visibly disassembled by the failure of very large fortune, 64 of whom are entrepreneurs who built their wealth from their hands, the pattern of the Forbes group sought to put into perspective. "This crisis could if stop if it decided not to count the assets at market value, insisted yesterday Steve Forbes." It is only paper losses.