World billionaires lose $2 trillion

Anil Ambani's fortune dwindles by over two-thirds to $10.1 billion.

Indian industrialist Anil Ambani, hailed as the biggest wealth creator a year ago, has now become the single-largest loser as his fortune dwindled by over two-third to $10.1 billion in a year, when the global billionaire club became poorer by $2 trillion.

Ambani, who was named the biggest gainer among all billionaires in March 2008, has seen his fortune dip by $31.9 billion since then, US magazine Forbes has said in its new ranking of billionaires.

The sharp erosion in his net worth has pushed Ambani down to the 34th position in this year’s ranking of world’s wealthiest persons, down from sixth in March 2008.

He is ranked even higher than Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim and Bill Gates as well as fellow Indians Lakshmi Mittal, K P Singh and elder brother Mukesh Ambani, in terms of losses.

There are four Indians — Anil Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal, KP Singh and Mukesh Ambani — among the 10 biggest losers of wealth globally — who are the same four Indians ranked among the 10 richest of the world last year.

Globally, 656 billionaires took a hit on their net worth, against only 44 adding to their wealth during the year. The total billionaire wealth shrunk to $2.4 trillion, from $4.4 trillion last year.

Out of the 25 richest Indians, only Malvinder and Shivinder Singh saw their net worth rise.

The two Indians who made it to the list of top 10 richest persons are Indian petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries' Chairman and MD, Mukesh Ambani, who has been ranked as the wealthiest in the country with a net worth of $19.5 billion, followed by NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal ($19.3 billion).

In the global list, Ambani is ranked seventh (down from 5th last year) and Mittal is eighth (4th in 2008).

In this year's list, everyone but the Singh brothers, who sold their generic drug firm Ranbaxy at its peak, lost money.

Though Mainland China has larger number of billionaires this year, in value terms, they are far behind their Indian counterparts. The combined worth of Indian billionaires is $107 billion, while it is $44 billion in case of China.

Mumbai is the only Indian city to have been named in the list of top 10 billionaires cities. It is home to 10 billionaires with an average net worth of $5.2 billion.

Forbes said: “India's richest are facing a major reality check. A volatile stock market that dropped 44 per cent in the past 12 months and a depreciating rupee, which fell about one-fifth against the dollar, sent their fortunes tumbling."

This year, the US regained its dominance and accounted for 44 per cent of the money and 45 per cent of the list’s slots.

A year ago, Moscow overtook New York as the billionaire capital of the world, with 74 tycoons, to New York's 71. Today, there are 27 in Moscow and 55 in New York.