Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates endured a disaster that I’m sure most people would love to experience for themselves: His net worth dived to $40 billion from $58 billion a year earlier.

This year the world’s billionaires have an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23% in 12 months. The world now has 793 billionaires, down from 1,125 a year ago.

An annual list of the world’s billionaires has revealed that 355 have dropped off the list from last year.
And, on average, the world’s richest people have lost almost a quarter of their wealth in the past 12 months.

The world contained 1,125 billionaires in 2008, but this year there are only 793 – a drop of almost 30 per cent. And nine in ten of those that did make it have lost money this year.
Bill Gates has regained his position as the world’s richest man in 2009, despite losing $18 billion (£13 billion).
Last year’s No 1, Warren Buffett, has slipped into second place, having seen his fortune decline by $25 billion, as shares in his company, Berkshire Hathaway, fell by nearly 50 per cent over the past year.