The super-rich Americans are getting super-poor
Yes it’s a truth , even guys like bill gates and Warren Buffet are facing some very rainy days.
As a direct result of the economic crisis, the fortune of the 400 richest Americans has dropped by $ 300 billion in one year according to Forbes annual rankings published Recently.
It is only the fifth time since 1982 that the total assets of the 400 largest fortunes in the United States, posted a decline. Indeed, it has lost 300 billion dollars over the last 12 months, from 1570 billion to 1270 billion dollars, according to Forbes.
The difficulties in equity markets, dropping prices of real estate, not to mention divorces and fraud , all these factors have weighed heavily on the fortunes of 314 members of the list and eliminated 32 plutocrats from the classification. The most affected are: Warren Buffet, the second American fortune. This man, nicknamed the “Oracle of Omaha” has lost 10 billion because of the dropping shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which have lost 20% of their value in 12 months. He now weighs only 40 billion dollars.
Who is ranked first then you may ask , For the 16th consecutive year, the richest American is of course Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft. But the lethargic price of Microsoft shares and the fall of foreign investments have made him lose $ 7 billion in 12 months .
The eight other members of the top ten are: The founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison (27 billion), the heiress of Wal-Mart, Christy Walton (21.5 billion), Jim C. Walton (19.6 billion), Alice Walton (19.3 billion) and S. Robson Walton (19 billion); King Media, Michael Bloomberg (17.5 billion) and the energy giants Charles and David Koch (16 billion each). The ten largest American fortunes have lost a total of 39.2 billion dollars over the last 12 months, that is 14% of their value.
Other major losers include the casino mogul, Kirk Kerkorian, who has lost $ 8.2 billion during the year. MGM Mirage have lost 90% of their value , Another fortune in decline: the founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Jack C. Taylor who lost $ 7 billion during the year following the slowdown in the travel industry and the fall in the value of private enterprises.
It’s a divorce that took away from the ranking the most affluent leader of Google, Omid Kordestani, while R. Allen Stanford has lost his status as a billionaire when the Federal Reserve has frozen his assets after accusing him of running a Ponzi fraud worth 8 billion dollars. Several pillars of the Forbes 400 list have also disappeared, including the former Tsar of Citigroup. Six members of the list died, including William Davidson and King of Press Frank Batten Sr.
But guys frankly we don’t need to care that much about them , even if they have lost a lot of billions , they are still having a lot in reserve 
