Markets
The Rich Get Poorer--Except Buffett
Matthew Miller, 10.27.08, 12:00 AM EDTSeptember was a rough month for people with large portfolios.
September was a rough month for people with large portfolios. Since we locked in prices for our annual survey of America's richest in late August, 17 of the plutocrats have lost more than $1 billion. The biggest loser: casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who shed $4 billion in September--on top of $13 billion lost between August 2007 and 2008--as his shares of Las Vegas Sands (nyse: LVS - news - people ) fell 34% during that month (and have fallen even further since). The big winner: Warren Buffett, whose shares of Berkshire Hathaway (nyse: BRK - news - people ) rose 17% last month, adding $8 billion to his fortune. Bill Gates lost $1.5 billion in the same period, putting the Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) of Omaha comfortably in first place on The Forbes 400.
| Net Worth on the Forbes 400 | ||
| Name | Aug. 29 | Oct. 1 |
| Sheldon Adelson | $15.0 bil | $11.0 bil |
| Charles Ergen | 8.1 | 5.9 |
| Lawrence Ellison | 27.0 | 25.4 |
| Carl Icahn | 12.0 | 10.4 |
| Sergey Brin | 15.9 | 14.4 |
| Larry Page | 15.8 | 14.3 |
| Harold Hamm | 7.0 | 5.5 |
| Bill Gates | 57.0 | 55.5 |
| Michael Dell | 17.3 | 15.9 |
| Dan Duncan | 7.6 | 6.3 |
| Kirk Kerkorian | 11.2 | 10.0 |
| Jeffrey Bezos | 8.7 | 7.6 |
| Warren Buffett | 50.0 | 58.0 |
