“Where have all the billionaires gone, long time passing”

According to Duncan Greenberg and Tatiana Serafin, Up in Smoke, Forbes Magazine, March 30, 2009:

Like the rest of us, the richest people on the planet have endured a financial disaster. This year there are 793 people on our list of the World’s Billionaires, a 30% decline from the 1,125 we counted up a year ago. Of the 752 who kept their ten-figure fortunes, 87% saw their personal balance sheets falter (6% gained; 7% held steady). Today the world’s billionaires have a collective net worth of $2.4 trillion, down $2 trillion from a year ago. Among the billionaires on both lists, the collective wealth is down $1.4 trillion.

Special thanks to Adam Hirsch (William and Catherine VanDercreek Professor of Law, Florida State University College of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.