17 BILLION and counting
The World’s Richest People Lost A Combined $17 Billion This Week
The world’s 40 richest people lost a combined $17 billion this week as concerns about American jobs and European manufacturing drove global equities to their biggest weekly loss of the year.
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s fortune fell by $775 million during the week as shares of his Nevada-based Las Vegas Sands Corp. dropped 3.11 percent through May 4. The 78-year-old is the 11th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $24.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“There’s renewed economic concern in light of the continuing slowdown in Europe, political uncertainty due to the upcoming elections in France, and the possibility of reopening discussions on debt rescue packages,” John Carey, who helps oversee about $220 billion at Pioneer Investment Management Inc., said in a telephone interview from his Boston office.
Global markets retreated this week after U.S. employers added fewer jobs than forecast and services and manufacturing output in the euro region shrank more than estimated. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 2.44 percent to 1,369.10, its worst weekly decline of the year. The STOXX Europe 600 lost 2.36 percent to close at 253.00.
Facebook Inc. co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s estimated fortune dropped $2.9 billion after the company said it planned to sell 337.4 million shares for $28 to $35 each in an initial public offering May 17. At the upper end of that range, Zuckerberg’s stake would be $17.6 billion.
Read more: http://bloomberg.mainstreamdata.com:8080/bbrss/M3IQRN1A74E801-M3ISGC6K50Y2#ixzz1uuMJqeTE
