As we begin the trek to grandmother's house, it's worth reflecting on what we have to be thankful for. The answer? When it comes to money, most of us have a lot less than we did a year ago. But for those of you who have your health and your families to comfort you, it will cost much less to buy the gasoline to visit than it would have in July. And as you're driving to visit those families -- consider how much less you lost in the last year than the world's 10 biggest losers.
According to the web site, The Business Sheet, those unfortunate people suffered a mind-boggling $176 billion in lost stock market value in the last 12 months. It turns out that 52% of the losses were suffered by three executives based in India. Here they are:
- Anil Ambani - $32.5 billion. Ambani heads Reliance Communications that invested $500 million in Dreamworks earlier this year.
- Lakshmi Mittal - $30.5 billion. Mittal heads ArcelorMittal which has suffered from a decline in the price of steel.
- Mukesh Ambani -$28.2 billion is Anil's brother and controls Reliance Industries, a petrochemical manufacturer.
These are some other folks that make The Business Sheet's list:
- Sheldon Adelson -$30 billion. I did consulting work for Adelson about 22 years ago and he is quite a character. His Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) casino is suffering from the economic slowdown and he's had some trouble with debt.
- Warren Buffett -$13.6 billion. As I posted, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) has had some problems this year.
- Kirk Kerkorian -$13 billion. Kerkorian has lost money in his automobile investments and his MGM Mirage casino.
- Sergey Brin and Larry Page -$12.1 billion. The Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) twins are hurting this year thanks to a precipitous drop in their stock.
- Larry Ellison -$6 billion. The Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) founder has seen the value of his holdings drop to $20 billion as of last October.
- Steve Ballmer -$5.1 billion. The Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO has seen his holdings drop to $9.4 billion as of early November.
- Eddie Lampert -$5 billion. A kidnapping victim who heads ESL Investments, Lampert's many public company holdings have lost quite a bit of value this year. Sears Holdings Corporation (NYSE: SHLD) has fallen the most -- down $3.6 billion.
It's only money. And they still have plenty where that came from. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for many Americans after this year's $23 trillion drop in stock market value and 16.6% drop in house prices.
If you have less money, don't let it stop you from enjoying your families this Thanksgiving.
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.
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