America's super rich are getting poorer. For only the fifth time since 1982, the collective net worth of The Forbes 400, our annual tally of the nation's richest people, has declined, falling US$300 billion in the past 12 months, from $1.57 trillion to $1.27 trillion.
Faltering capital markets and real estate prices, along with divorce and fraud, pushed the fortunes of 314 members down and drove 32 plutocrats off the rankings.
Go to Forbes.com to view the slideshow
(Opens new window)
Hurt the most: Warren Buffett, America's second-richest citizen. The Oracle of Omaha dropped US$10 billion from his personal balance sheet as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell 20% in 12 months. He is now worth $40 billion.
Beating out Buffett for the 16th straight year as America's richest man is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Sluggish Microsoft shares and declining outside investments pushed the software visionary's net worth down US$7 billion in 12 months.
Rounding out the top 10 on The Forbes 400: Oracle founder Larry Ellison (US$27 billion); Wal-Mart heirs Christy Walton (US$21.5 billion), Jim C. Walton (US$19.6 billion), Alice Walton (US$19.3 billion), and S. Robson Walton (US$19 billion); media maven Michael Bloomberg (US$17.5 billion) and energy titans Charles and David Koch (US$16 billion each).
The 10 richest Americans lost a combined US$39.2 billion in the past 12 months, a 14% decline.
Other big losers include casino mogul Kirk Kerkorian, whose nest egg shed US$8.2 billion in the past year. Shares of his gambling giant MGM Mirage have fallen 90% from their October 2007 high.
Also hitting the brakes: Enterprise Rent-A-Car founder Jack C. Taylor. The rental car titan's fortune is down $7 billion in a year as the travel industry slows and private-company valuations fall.
The biggest gainer is banker Andrew Beal, who tripled his net worth to US$4.5 billion buying up cheap loans and assets as the markets crumbled last fall.
Membership on the list was made easier as the price of admission dropped US$350 million, from $1.3 billion last year to $950 million this year, paving the way for 19 new members and 19 returnees.
Newcomers to the list include Marvel Entertainment chief Isaac Perlmutter, whose net worth soared to US$1.55 billion after Disney agreed to buy the superhero outfit in August for $4 billion in cash and stock.
Other new members include Bloomberg LP co-founder Charles Zegar (US$1 billion), mapping-software magnate Jack Dangermond ($2 billion) and trading titan Steven Schonfeld ($1 billion).
Former New York lawyer and accountant Jeffry Picower makes his debut on The Forbes 400 with a net worth of US$1 billion. A longtime investor with Bernard Madoff, he is likely worth billions more (Picower is alleged to have extracted billions of dollars from Madoff's fund before it collapsed).
Picower and his foundation are named in a lawsuit by the liquidator for Madoff's investment business, who is seeking to recover funds allegedly obtained through "fraudulent activity." Picower claims if he knew Madoff was a fraud he would not have transferred money into Madoff accounts.
In December 2008, the Picower Foundation shut down after losing its US$1 billion endowment in Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The charity had given millions to MIT, Human Rights First and the New York Public Library. Picower made his first fortune selling medical device maker Alaris in 2004.
Among those returning is venture capitalist Michael Moritz, who rode Amazon's purchase of online shoe retailer Zappos and surging Google stock back onto the list.
Divorce forced Google exec Omid Kordestani from the rankings, while R. Allen Stanford lost his billionaire status when the feds froze his assets after charging him with allegedly running an US$8 billion Ponzi scheme.
Several Forbes 400 mainstays also fell off the list, including former Citigroup czar Sanford Weill, mall developer Matthew Bucksbaum and condo kingpin Jorge Perez.
Six members died, including glass giant William Davidson and newspaper maven Frank Batten Sr.
The Forbes 400 is a snapshot of wealth on Sept. 10, 2009. Gap co-founder Donald Fisher, who ranks No. 296 on our list, died Sept. 27 at his home in San Francisco at age 81.
Go to Forbes.com to view the slideshow In Pictures: The 400 Richest Americans
