'Billionaire Bloodbath' Costs America's Super-Rich $300B

Mere multi-millionaires make it into Forbes 400 as slowdown shrinks fortunes
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 1, 2009 3:24 AM CDT
'Billionaire Bloodbath' Costs America's Super-Rich $300B
Many of the richest Americans have been demoted from super-rich to just extremely wealthy, according to the latest Forbes rankings.   (Shutter Stock)

America's 400 richest people became a whole lot poorer over the last 12 months, according to the latest Forbes list. Their total wealth fell by a whopping $300 billion to a total $1.27 trillion, with 314 of the 400 experiencing a fall in fortunes. A Forbes editor described the last year as a "billionaire bloodbath" that cut the number of billionaires in America to 392 from 489.

Bill Gates remains America's richest man and Warren Buffett is still in second place, even though their fortunes fell by $7 billion and $10 billion, respectively. Some 32 people lost their places on the list over the last year, including Texas money man R. Allen Stanford, whose assets have been frozen while the feds investigate an alleged Ponzi scheme.
(More recession stories.)

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