If you think you had a rough September, consider Bill Gates.
Critics may have savaged his cryptic Vista commercials with Jerry Seinfeld, but it was in his stock holdings that Mr. Gates took a real beating.
Forbes magazine, whose Forbes 400 listed Mr. Gates as the richest American in late August, figures he lost $1.5 billion between August 29 and October 1.
That would mean that Mr. Gates’ pal Warren Buffett has emerged as the wealthiest American. Forbes reckoned that Mr. Buffett’s net worth climbed $8 billion to $58 billion, moving him from the No. 2 position.
The stock market turmoil also took a toll on Oracle CEO Larry Ellison (down $1.6 billion to $25.4 billion) and Michael Dell (down $1.4 billion to $15.9 billion.)
Also losing a cool billion were Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (both down $1.5 billion to $14.4 billion and $14.3 billion, respectively).
Amazon.com CEO Jeffrey Bezos also joined the billion-dollar losers club as his net worth went from $8.7 billion to $7.6 billion.