DANGOTE TOPS WORLD LOSER IN THE 2015 FORBES BILLIONAIRES LIST

 

 DANGOTE TOPS WORLD LOSER IN THE 2015 FORBES BILLIONAIRES LIST

 (chai this is bad ooo) 

On Monday 2^nd march 2015, FORBES released its annual World’s Billionaires list, which tracks all of the planet’s 10-figure fortunes. Overall it was a good year for billionaires: we added 290 newcomers, bringing the total number of billionaires to 1,826 with an aggregate wealth of $7.05 trillion (all new records). But not all of the rich have gotten richer.

The ten billionaires who have lost the most since last year’s ranking have parted ways with $62 billion in total. The biggest loser? Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote. The cement, sugar and flour magnate is down $10.3 billion from a year ago due to currency devaluation and falling demand for cement. He’s also a victim of a slumping Nigerian Stock Exchange, as uncertainty about the nation’s future (worsened by the decision to postpone its presidential election in February amid security concerns) has left investors skeptical. Some $4.5 billion in Nigerian stocks were sold off by foreign shareholders over the past year. It’s not all bad news for Dangote though — he’s still the wealthiest person on his continent, worth an impressive $14.7 billion. (All of the net worths on our list were as of Feb. 13, 2015.)

Contrary to the old gambling adage, the house doesn’t always win. Dwindling revenues have hit casino kings Lui Che Woo and Sheldon Adelson hard, lopping $8.5 and $6.6 billion off their respective fortunes. Both have been betting big on Macau, which had been experiencing robust growth before the Chinese government’s crackdown on corruption tempered the influx of highrollers into the gambling region. But neither is scaling back: Adelson’s Sands China plans to unveil a $2.7 billion casino and hotel (complete with a replica Eiffel Tower) in late 2015, while Chee Woo’s Galaxy Entertainment Group is set to double the size of its Cotai resort with three new hotels, 50 restaurants and a venue for Broadway-style shows in May. Adelson is still one of the 20 richest people in the world, worth $31.4 billion, and Lui Che Woo is no slouch at $13.5 billion.

The nosediving ruble, tumbling price of oil and continuing economic sanctions have made Russia another distressed area this year. The aggregate wealth of Russian billionaires on our list is down $86 billion from last year. Vladimir Yevtushenkov was hit hardest, losing $6.2 billion as his stake in oil outfit Bashneft was seized by Putin in October amid controversial money-laundering allegations. Yevtushenkov, who denies wrongdoing, was released from house arrest in December and has been tentatively awarded $1.1 billion in damages. Still, shares of his conglomerate, Sistema, are down 56% and he’s now worth $2.8 billion.

Things aren’t much better for Putin’s pals either: Gennady Timchenko, who’s considered a member of the Russian president’s inner circle, was hit by U.S. sanctions in March 2014 — just a day after the gas, transport and construction billionaire sold off his stake in commodity trader Gunvor. Thanks to the sanctions and oil’s fall from grace, Timchenko is down $4.6 billion this year to a net worth of $10.7 billion.

Not every big drop is because business is bad, though. Two of the year’s biggest losers, Stefan Persson and Miuccia Prada, are down simply because new information unearthed by FORBES convinced us to revise their net worth estimates. Turns out both of the fashion moguls’ stakes are smaller than we had thought.

The H&M chief Persson shares part of his fortune with his children, Karl-Johan Persson, Charlotte Soderstrom and Tom Persson. Each own 4.8% of the fashion company — enough to easily secure them their own spots among the world’s wealthiest this year. Similarly, Prada, who is co-chief executive of her family’s handbag empire, is down billions that were determined to actually belong to siblings Alberto and Marina. Her brother and sister each own 15% of the company; Miuccia has a 35% stake.

Other billionaires feeling a bit lighter these days include Australian mining heiress Gina Rinehart, whose Hancock Prospecting has seen its shares depreciate because of iron ore’s price drop; Vladimir Lisin, whose UCL Rail, the biggest private railway operator in Russia, is down thanks to decreased rail shipping prices; and Rinat Akhmetov, the Ukrainian oligarch who has been caught in the ongoing battle against Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk region.

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This post was gotten from https://www.forbes.com