Miljardair Blowups van 2008
Miljardair Blowups van 2008
door Luisa Kroll
Dinsdag, 23 December, 2008
langs verstrekt
© Kamal Narang/BedrijfsLijn/Hindoes
Anil Ambani
Dozens rijkste verloren miljarden van de wereld de laatste maanden, maar deze 10 onderscheiden zich voor enkele grootste ploffen.
Het was een vreselijk jaar voor de wereld rijkst als markten en de munten rond de wereld tuimelden.
Meer dan 300 van de 1.125 miljardairs die wij op onze jaarlijkse lijst zijn overeengekomen laatste Maart sindsdien verloren=heeft= minstens $1 miljard; verscheidene dozijn verloor meer dan $5 miljard. 10 het rijkst van onze het rangschikken van 2008 lieten vallen zowat $150 miljard van rijkdom, die neer door staaltycoon Lakshmi Mittal, vervreemde broers Mukesh en Anil Ambani en bezitsbaron K.P. wordt gesleept. Singh, die samen $100 miljard liet vallen. Verloren 25 grootste de miljardairverliezers van Amerika van 2008 een gecombineerde $167 miljard.
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Maar zelfs in zulk een vreselijke jaar duidelijk uit, komen de verhalen van een paar miljardairs en nu vroegere miljardairs bijzonder vreselijk.
Neem David Ross, één van de U.K.'s meest succesvole ondernemers. Vroeger bracht deze maand, Ross vier openbare vennootschappen op de hoogte waarin hij een belangrijke aandeelhouder en een directeur was die hij tegen zijn aandelen had geleend om onroerende goedereninvesteringen te financieren die waren verzuurd. Hij zal waarschijnlijk sommige van die staken moeten verkopen om zijn schulden te betalen. Tot dusver heeft hij van drie van de vier raad afgetreden en neer van zijn post als Olympics adviseur gestapt. Zijn fortuin, dat wij op $1.4 miljard in Maart schatten, is nu ongeveer $150 miljoen waard.
Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, de vroegere voorzitter en een groot aandeelhouder in Landsbanki, de tweede grootste bank van IJsland, zagen de firma die in Oktober wordt gegrepen aangezien slechtst van de kredietcrisis door de eilandnatie scheurde. De mislukking deed zijn $1.1 miljard fortuin teniet. He has since had to put his holding company, Hansa, into voluntary liquidation and is selling his U.K. soccer team, West Ham.
Russians were some of the biggest losers in the past year. Vladimir Lisin’s Novolipetsk Iron and Steel is down three-fourths since its June peak. Dmitry Rybolovlev’s fertilizer company, Uralkali, has fallen 90% since it peaked around the same time.
But those losses pale compared with the troubles facing Oleg Deripaska. In March he was the world’s ninth richest person and Russia’s richest man, with a fortune we estimated to be worth $28 billion. Since then Deripaska has been forced to sell shares in Canadian carmaker Magna International and German construction firm Hotchief, and had to borrow $4.5 billion from a state-controlled bank to hold on to his stake in Norilsk Nickel. He will likely sell off additional assets to avoid losing even more of his fortune, now estimated at $10 billion. Or less.
The biggest loser of all was Anil Ambani. Touted on the cover of our 2008 billionaires issue for having added $24 billion to his fortune in one year, Ambani has dropped $30 billion since then. But don’t worry too much. His Reliance Entertainment is investing $500 million in a new studio venture with Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks. Plus, he remains quite wealthy, worth $12 billion That’s something many others can’t claim.
In Pictures: Billionaire Blowups, 2008
1. Anil Ambani
March net worth: $42 billion
Current net worth: $12 billion
© AP Photo
Oleg Deripaska
The biggest billionaire gainer last March is now the year’s biggest loser. Ambani lost $30 billion in the past nine months, more than anyone in the world. Stock of his telecom company dropped after his estranged brother helped scuttle a deal with African telecom MTN. It’s quite an achievement in a year in which three of his fellow countrymen–estranged brother Mukesh, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and Indian KP Singh, all of whom ranked earlier among the world’s 10 richest–lost more than $20 billion apiece.
2. Oleg Deripaska
March net worth: $28 billion
Current net worth: less than $10 billion
Former metals trader survived Russia’s gangster wars but may not withstand collapsing markets and heavy debts of at least $14 billion. Russia’s one-time richest man recently received a $4.5 billion loan from a state-controlled bank in order to keep his 25% stake in Norilsk Nickel, which faced a margin call by Western banks from which he had borrowed. Other margin calls forced him to divest a $1.5 billion stake in Canadian carmaker Magna International and a $500 million stake in German construction company Hotchief. He’s also selling stake in insurance company Inogsstrakh.
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3. Anurag Dikshit
March net worth: $1.6 billion
Current net worth: $1 billion
Dikshit designed the software for PartyGaming’s successful PartyPoker game, which allowed live gambling over the Web. He left the company and sold a chunk of shares in 2006, the year the U.S. government banned gaming. He recently pleaded guilty to violating U.S. gaming laws and agreed to forfeit $300 million. He could face up to two years in jail but apparently won’t be sentenced until 2010. He has already paid $100 million of his fine and will pay the rest in two installments next year.
© Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Bjorgflur Gudmundsson
4. Bjorgflur Gudmundsson
March net worth: $1.1 billion
Current net worth: zero
The October collapse and government seizure of Iceland’s second largest bank wiped out the $1.1 billion fortune of Gudmundsson, the bank’s chairman and biggest shareholder, along with his son Thor. His holding company, Hansa, has since gone into voluntary liquidation and is looking for a buyer for its U.K. soccer team, West Ham. It’s not the first time he’s run into trouble. A former shipping executive, he was charged with fraud and embezzlement in relation to the firm’s 1985 collapse, and was eventually found guilty on five minor counts and sentenced to 12 months’ probation.
5. Luis Portillo
March net worth: $1.2 billion
Current net worth: $15 million
Spain’s short-lived real estate gold rush left one of its most visible speculators holding a nearly empty bag. Portillo–who acquired real estate firm Inmocaral three years ago, then led the takeover of the larger Inmobiliaria Colonial in 2006–personally borrowed a reported $1.4 billion from more than a dozen banks during boom times, using his stock as collateral. He resigned as chairman in December 2007 and then tried to sell his stake to a Dubai fund earlier this year. When the deal fell through, he had to sell most of shares to pay debts.
Click here for the full list of the Billionaire Blowups of 2008.
Additional reporting by Tatiana Serafin, Russell Flannery, Naazneen Karmali and Cristina von Zeppelin
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