Although Mr Gates (seen here) topped the list with a personal fortune estimated by Forbes to be about US$57 billion, this was down from the US$59 billion the magazine said he was worth last year. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
NEW YORK - MICROSOFT founder Bill Gates is the richest person in the United States for the 15th year in a row, but economic woes have claimed some members of Forbes magazine ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
Dropouts this year include former American International Group chief executive Maurice Greenberg, and former eBay chief Meg Whitman, while among those on the list some 126 fortunes declined - six times more than last year.
Casino magnate Mr Sheldon Adelson saw his fortune dwindle by US$13 billion (S$18.65 billion) in the past year, the biggest loss of anyone on the list, while Mr Kirk Kerkorian's fortune shrank by US$6.8 billion as shares in casino operator MGM Mirage tumbled.
'The fact that the rich are not getting richer means that the economy is locked,' said Mr Matthew Miller, editor of theForbes list. 'Credit is not being extended, there is very little liquidity in the markets and deals can't get done, so the economy contracts.'
Forbes used publicly traded stock prices on Aug 29 when compiling the list, signaling that this week's stock plunges - part of the worst financial turmoil since the Great Depression - have further eroded many of these fortunes.
Although Mr Gates topped the list with a personal fortune estimated by Forbes to be about US$57 billion, this was down from the US$59 billion the magazine said he was worth last year.
Investor Mr Warren Buffett came in at No. 2 with US$50 billion, down from an estimated US$52 billion last year, followed in third place by Oracle Corp founder Mr Lawrence Ellison, who is said to be worth US$27 billion.
High Barrier
After being booted out last year by Google Inc co-founders Mr Sergey Brin and Mr Larry Page, four members of the Walton family, descendants of Wal-Mart Stores Inc founder Mr Sam Walton, return at positions Nos. 4 through 7, all with fortunes of about US$23 billion.
Rounding out the top 10 are New York City Mayor Mr Michael Bloomberg at No. 8, with a fortune estimated at US$20 billion from his news and financial data empire, and brothers Charles and David Koch, who run manufacturing and energy company Koch Industries, and are valued at US$19 billion each.
But for all the the economic and financial turmoil, membership in this exclusive club remains as tough as ever.
For a second straight year, the minimum net worth needed to get on the Forbes list is US$1.3 billion, while the average net worth of the 400 richest Americans is US$3.9 billion.
Collectively, that means that the 400 richest Americans have a net worth of US$1.57 trillion, exceeding Canada's gross domestic product.
The youngest member on the Forbes' list is 24-year-old Facebook founderMr Mark Zuckerberg, whose $1.5 billion could swell if ever his social networking company goes public.
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts has thelargest contingent on the list among elite schools, with 49 alumni, followed by Stanford with 30, Yale with 17 and Princeton with seven.
Of the 400 richest Americans, Forbes said 271 made their fortunes themselves, while 75 people inherited their money. -- REUTERS
