Losing day on Wall Street

Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison All Lose More Than Half A Billion On Bad Day For World Economy

Five of the world’s richest men lost more than half a billion each on Tuesday, as sagging tech stocks and the chugging global economy pulled their net worths down.

Forbes,

9 October, 2012

Amazon chief Jeff Bezos was Tuesday’s biggest loser: his fortune dipped by $711 million as Amazon shares dropped 3% over the prior day. Larry Ellison saw his net worth sink $577 million along with Oracle , which fell 1.7% today. Robin Li, founder of Baidu, watched his net worth drop $567 million, and Warren Buffett sank $532 million in net worth terms.

All of Tuesday’s losers were pulled down as the International Monetary Fund downgraded its estimate for world economic growth to 3.3 percent, the slowest pace since 2009. Internet-based stocks also took a tumble: Li’s Baidu was down nearly 7% by the end of the day, Apple 0.4%, Microsoft 1.7%.

Of the 50 billionaires we track as part of our Real-Time Billionaires, only three saw their fortunes rise Tuesday–and not by much. Charles Ergen, founder of DISH Networks, gained $10 million. Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire chairman of ArcelorMittal, saw his net worth rise $51 million. And Continental Resources oil billionaire Harold Hamm was Tuesday’s biggest winner, with a gain of $271 million as CLR stock rose 2.8%.

Sigh. All-in-all not a great day for creating wealth. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.