Bill Gates Lost $7 Billion

Some things never change—like Bill Gates being atop Forbes’ annual list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. Some things, however, do change—the total wealth of those ranked dropped $300 billion to $1.27 trillion and the number of billionaires fell to 391 from 489. Gates’ net worth, for example, declined $7 billion to $50 billion and second-place Warren Buffett lost $10 billion, ending up with a personal valuation of $40 billion. Oprah Winfrey’s net worth also decreased by $400 million. Among the 28 members of the list who actually added to their wealth over the past year is Andrew Beal, a fund manager at Henderson Global Investors Ltd., who ranked in 52nd place. He tripled his net worth to $4.5 billion by buying cheap loans and assets.