The World's Billionaires 2017 list: The year's most notable drop-offs

Published: Apr 10, 2017 10:05:59 AM IST
Updated: Apr 10, 2017 03:04:22 PM IST

Seventy-eight members of the 2016 billionaires club fell off the list this year—the smallest number of departures since 2013. A volatile stock market in China knocked 33 of that country’s billionaires out; 7 Americans, meanwhile, saw their ten-figure status nicked to nine (or lower). We booted several more because their wealth is now shared among their extended family. These five had particularly intriguing tumbles

Image: Getty Images

Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal, India
2016 net worth: $1.2 bln each
2017 net worth: $950 mln each

These two former Amazon engineers’ ecommerce platform, Flipkart, has run into trouble. An exodus of top talent forced the pair to hand the reins to a former director from Tiger Global Management (a big investor), who took over as Flipkart’s chief executive in January. Also, the firm reportedly had its $15 billion valuation from a 2015 funding round written down by investors. The two Bansals—who are unrelated; that’s Binny above—reportedly say the downgrades are merely “theoretical” and are looking to raise an additional $1.5 billion

Femi Otedola, Nigeria
2016 net worth: $1.8 bln
2017 net worth: $275 mln

Otedola, who owns a 79% stake in Lagos-based Forte Oil, had the bulk of his net worth wiped out as shares fell by 83% in the past year. His fortune took another hit as the Nigerian naira dropped by 37% against the dollar in that time. He’s in familiar territory, at least: After joining the billionaires list in 2009, he was absent the next year because of high debt and bad oil trades

Hung Yau Lit, China

2016 net worth: $1.3 bln
2017 net worth: $745 mln

Shares of Hung’s Regina Miracle International are down by 45% over the past year. A supplier of bras and underwear to Victoria’s Secret and Calvin Klein, it has been hurt by slowing orders from its biggest customer, L Brands (parent of Victoria’s Secret). Another factor: Regina Miracle is moving its manufacturing base from Shenzhen, China, to Vietnam, slowing production

Image: Getty Images

Naruatsu Baba, Japan
2016 net worth: $1.2 bln
2017 net worth: $690 mln

Baba was early into mobile games, founding his company, Colopl, in 2008, around the time he turned 30. But the Tokyo-listed business has lost cachet among users and investors. Sales of its popular games White Cat Tennis and White Cat Project are down, and company shares fell by 38% in the last year, denting Baba’s fortune. Colopl is now betting on virtual-reality games developed by others, having put $100 million into two separate investment funds

(This story appears in the 28 April, 2017 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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