Many of the planet’s billionaires are poorer this year. Some lost their tenth digit entirely.
It was another bad year for billionaires, with the war in Ukraine raging, inflation surging and the crypto bubble bursting. Nearly half the planet’s 2,640 billionaires are poorer than they were in 2022—but some fared even worse: 254 people dropped off the list completely.
Those who lost their spot on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires ranking in 2023 include a couple famous faces–Kanye West and Sam Bankman-Fried–plus several moguls behind famous brands, such as Yvon Chouinard, founder of outerwear maker Patagonia; Ernest Garcia III, founder of used car seller Carvana; and Bruce Nordstrom, the retired longtime head of the department store chain. An additional 33 members of the 2022 list died.
Tech tycoons were hit the hardest, with 52 seeing their net worths fall under $1 billion over the past year. This includes Alex Atallah and Devin Finzer, cofounders of NFT marketplace OpenSea, and Andy Fang and Stanley Tang, cofounders of food delivery app DoorDash. Meanwhile 44 billionaires from the world of finance and investments fell off this year, including venture capitalist and early crypto backer Tim Draper and Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank. And 35 manufacturing moguls dropped from the ranks, including Antoine Rabie and Ronnen Harary of Spin Master Corp., known for kids’ toys like Hatchimals, Air Hogs and Paw Patrol.
China (including Hong Kong) had the most drop-offs, with 80, including Xiong Shaoming, cofounder of vaping device supplier Smoore International and David Xueling Li, chairman of live-streaming social media platform JOYY. The United States, which boasts the most billionaires in the world, had the second-highest number of people fall from the ranks, with 47, followed by India (23) and South Korea (15).
A total of 74 people made the billionaires list in 2022 for the first time–only to fall off in 2023. These one-hit wonders include David Girouard, founder of fintech lender Upstart; synthetic diamond manufacturing mogul Shao Zengming and Indian pharmaceuticals patriarch Subba Rao Jasti.
Here are some of the highest-profile people who lost their three-comma status:
(NET WORTHS ARE AS OF MARCH 10, 2023)
Sam Bankman-Fried
Net worth: Less than $10 million (down from $24 billion) | Source of wealth: Cryptocurrency exchange | Citizenship: U.S.
The crypto wunderkind convinced customers, investors and, yes, Forbes that his FTX exchange was the future of crypto. His house of cards crumbled in late 2022, and now “SBF” faces federal fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violation charges (all of which he denies). He and cofounder Gary Wang–who pleaded guilty to fraud charges and is reportedly cooperating with authorities–are two of seven crypto investors to drop from the ranks this year.
Kanye West
Net worth: About $400 million (down from $2 billion) | Source of wealth: Music, sneakers | Citizenship: U.S.
“I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me,” the musician bragged in October. The athleticwear giant did just that, canceling the Yeezy sneaking line in late October, dropping West, who goes by Ye, from the billionaire ranks.
Yvon Chouinard
Net worth: Less than $100 million (down from $1.2 billion) | Source of wealth: Patagonia | Citizenship: U.S.
Chouinard–who had long complained about making Forbes’ wealth lists and once wrote that business “has to take the majority of the blame for being the enemy of nature”–gave up his spot in September, when he donated his outdoor clothing and gear retailer, Patagonia, to a trust and a nonprofit fighting environmental crises. The business, which Chouinard founded in 1973, sets aside 1% of sales to finance environmental groups.
Zhao Weiguo
Net worth: Less than $100 million (down from $2.8 billion) | Source of wealth: IT products | Citizenship: China
Amid a broad investigation into its semiconductor industry, a Chinese regulator has charged the former chair of the government-backed semiconductor conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup with corruption. A bankruptcy restructuring left Zhao, who was reported to have “disappeared” from public view last year, without any holdings in Tsinghua Unigroup’s companies. Zhao could not be reached for comment.
Billionaires List
Henrique Dubugras
Pedro Franceschi
Net worth: About $900 million each (down from $1.5 billion) | Source of wealth: Fintech | Citizenship: Brazil
The startup funding frenzy has fizzled, hammering the valuations of unicorns–venture-backed companies worth $1 billion or more. In all, at least 51 unicorn founders are worth less than a year ago. At least 19 are no longer billionaires at all, including Dubugras and Franceschi, cofounders of credit card fintech Brex–now worth an estimated $6.4 billion, down from $12.3 billion in early 2022.
Niraj Shah
Steve Conine
Net worth: About $600 million each (down from $1.6 billion) | Source of wealth: Online retail | Citizenship: U.S.
Demand for sofas, beds and rugs from their online home goods retailer Wayfair has plummeted, sending shares–bid up 90% during the pandemic–down 75% since last year. In January, Shah (CEO and co-chairman) and Conine (co-chairman) announced Wayfair was cutting 10% of its workforce as part of a $1.4 billion cost-savings plan.
Alex Atalla and Devin Finzer
Net worth: Less than $600 million each (down from $2.2 billion) | Source of wealth: Online marketplace | Country: U.S.
The bubble for NFTs sold on their OpenSea marketplace has burst. Sales of the non-fungible tokens–computer files used to track ownership of unique digital assets including art and music–have plummeted, dropping the value of OpenSea from $13.3 billion to an estimated $3.1 billion. In July 2022, OpenSea laid off 20% of its staff.
Ernest Garcia III
Net worth: Less than $100 million (down from $3.2 billion) | Source of wealth: Used cars | Citizenship: U.S.
Carvana shares cratered by 94% since last year due to a slump in the used car market and growing investor concerns about Carvana’s $5.6 billion debt pile. The company lost $2.9 billion in 2022.
