A tumultuous 2015 rocked fortunes around the world due
to dwindling oil prices, weakened markets and a stronger dollar. The World’s
Billionaires experienced the repercussions: 221 former billionaires no longer
hold the title and altogether this year’s 1,810 billionaires are now worth a
collective $6.48 trillion, a drop from $7.05 trillion last year. Some of the
world’s biggest fortunes had the greatest drops. As they say: the more you
have, the more you have to lose.
Case in point: Carlos Slim Helu. With a fortune of $50
billion, Slim is this year’s biggest billionaire loser. The weaker Mexican peso
and the latest regulations that forced phone and broadcast companies to reduce
their market share in Mexico hurt Slim’s pan-Latin American mobile phone
operator, America Movil. The company’s stock price fell nearly 42% in dollar
terms over the past year, and Slim’s net worth dropped by $27.1 billion, making
him the biggest dollar loser on the 2016 Forbes Billionaires List.
Other telecom magnates suffered major losses, too.
Denver-native Charles Ergen lost $7.9 billion, and is now worth $12.2 billion,
thanks to a 44% drop in the stock price of his satellite service provider DISH
Network, which had a decline in subscribers. French telecom billionaire Patrick
Drahi’s company Altice, a high speed telecommunication services provider in
Europe, the U.S, Israel and the Dominican Republic, also saw its stock price
cut by almost half over the past year, shrinking his net worth by $10.1 billion
to a mere $5.9 billion. Altice has gone on a debt-driven acquisition spree in
recent years and purchased 70% of U.S. cable operator Suddenlink in a $9
billion deal last year.
Larry
Ellison of Oracle also suffered market woes. After a decrease in software
license sales for corporate systems, Oracle shares dropped by almost 19%,
contributing to Ellison’s decline from $54.3 billion net worth down to $43.6
billion. He pledged 50 million shares in 2015 as collateral to secure certain
personal indebtedness, which contributed to this drop, too. (Forbes discounts
shares that are used as collateral.)
China’s biggest loser was Li Hejun,
briefly the nation’s richest man in early 2015. He lost $17.9 billion or almost
85% of his fortune as shares of his Hong Kong-listed Hanergy Thin Film Power
Group were suspended in May 2015 after Hanergy’s share price plunged 47% in one
day. The solar panel equipment maker is under investigation by Hong Kong
regulators, who haven’t specified why.
A
tumultuous 2015 rocked fortunes around the world due to dwindling oil prices,
weakened markets and a stronger dollar. The World’s Billionaires experienced
the repercussions: 221 former billionaires no longer hold the title and
altogether this year’s 1,810 billionaires are now worth a collective $6.48
trillion, a drop from $7.05 trillion last year. Some of the world’s biggest
fortunes had the greatest drops. As they say: the more you have, the more you
have to lose.
Case
in point: Carlos Slim Helu. With a fortune of $50
billion, Slim is this year’s biggest billionaire loser. The weaker Mexican peso
and the latest regulations that forced phone and broadcast companies to reduce
their market share in Mexico hurt Slim’s pan-Latin American mobile phone
operator, America Movil. The company’s stock price fell nearly 42% in dollar
terms over the past year, and Slim’s net worth dropped by $27.1 billion, making
him the biggest dollar loser on the 2016 Forbes Billionaires List.
Other
telecom magnates suffered major losses, too. Denver-nativeCharles Ergen lost $7.9 billion, and is now worth $12.2
billion, thanks to a 44% drop in the stock price of his satellite service
provider DISH Network, which had a decline in subscribers. French telecom
billionaire Patrick Drahi’s company Altice, a high
speed telecommunication services provider in Europe, the U.S, Israel and the
Dominican Republic, also saw its stock price cut by almost half over the past
year, shrinking his net worth by $10.1 billion to a mere $5.9 billion. Altice
has gone on a debt-driven acquisition spree in recent years and purchased 70%
of U.S. cable operator Suddenlink in a $9 billion deal last year.
Larry Ellison of Oracle also suffered market woes. After a
decrease in software license sales for corporate systems, Oracle shares dropped
by almost 19%, contributing to Ellison’s decline from $54.3 billion net worth
down to $43.6 billion. He pledged 50 million shares in 2015 as collateral to
secure certain personal indebtedness, which contributed to this drop, too.
(Forbes discounts shares that are used as collateral.)
China’s
biggest loser was Li Hejun, briefly the nation’s richest
man in early 2015. He lost $17.9 billion or almost 85% of his fortune as shares
of his Hong Kong-listed Hanergy Thin Film Power Group were suspended in May
2015 after Hanergy’s share price plunged 47% in one day. The solar panel
equipment maker is under investigation by Hong Kong regulators, who haven’t
specified why.
In
Europe, while Germany began recovering from the crisis, a few billionaire
fortunes still took a hit. Georg Schaeffler lost $8.8 billion in 2015, mostly due to a 13% drop in the Continental
stock price – his tire and auto parts giant.
Meanwhile,
one billionaire is in the biggest loser ranks thanks to his generosity. Warren Buffett’s fortune fell by $11.9
billion since last year but not simply because of a 13% drop in Berkshire
Hathaway’s stock over the past year. Buffett donated more than $2.8 billion of
Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation besides smaller donations to other
foundations and individuals. An avid philanthropist, Buffett founded the Giving
Pledge in 2010 with Bill Gates, who still maintains his streak as the richest
person on earth.
Following is a complete list of the World’s 10
Biggest Losers:
1. Carlos Slim Helu
Net
Worth: $50B
Loss:
-$27.1 B
Origin
of Wealth: Telecom
2.
Li Hejun
Net
Worth: $3.2B
Loss:
-$17.9 B
Origin
of Wealth: Renewable Energy
3.
Warren Buffett
Net
Worth: $60.8B
Loss:
-$11.9 B
Origin
of Wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
4.
Larry Ellison
Net
Worth: $43.6B
Loss:
-$10.7 B
Origin
of Wealth: Oracle
5 .Patrick Drahi
Net
Worth: $5.9B
Loss:
-$10.1 B
Origin
of Wealth: Telecom
6 .Georg Schaeffler
Net
Worth: $18.1 billion
Loss:
-$8.8B
Origin
of Wealth: Ball Bearings
7 .Charles Ergen
Net
Worth: $12.2B
Loss:
-$7.9B
Origin
of Wealth: Satellite TV
8 .S. Robson Walton
Net
Worth: $31.9B
Loss: -$7.2B
Origin of Wealth: Wal-Mart
9 . Jack Taylor
Net
Worth: $5.3B
Loss:
-$7.2B
Origin
of Wealth: Enterprise Rent-A-Car
10 . Alice Walton
Net
Worth: $32.3B
Loss:
-$7.1B
Origin
of Wealth: Wal-Mart
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