From volatile stock markets to Brexit to a trade war, a tumultuous 2018 knocked 247 people out of the ForbesBillionaire club by DenizCam
MILAN, ITALY - JANUARY 13: Designers Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce acknowledge the applause of the audience at the Dolce & Gabbana Unexpected Show during Milan Men's Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2018/19 on January 13, 2018 in Milan, Italy. (PhotoFrom volatile stock markets to Brexit to a trade war, a tumultuous 2018 knocked 247 people out of the billionaires club. That’s the most since 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis when 355 people fell from the ranks.
Of the 247 who are no longer billionaires, some had rather public downfalls. That includes Italian fashion powerhouses Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The duo’s eponymous luxury purveyor saw sales drop 20% last year. This past November, the house caught flak for controversial ads—ostensibly aimed at consumers in Asia—showing a D&G-clad woman being reprimanded for using chopsticks to eat pizza. The company ultimately apologized.
American biotech entrepreneur John Kapoor—who founded Insys Therapeutics—is on trial this month, along with other executives from Insys, for racketeering and bribing doctors to prescribe a fentanyl spray called Subsys. Stock of Insys dropped 20% in the past year while share price of generic drug manufacturer Akorn—where Kapoor has a 23% stake—plummeted by 75%.
Canadian businessman Frank Stronach is another ex-billionaire tangled in a legal battle—but unlike Kapoor, he is feuding with a relative. Stronach sued his daughter Belinda in October, claiming she has mismanaged the clan’s Ontario-based Stronach Group, of which she is president. Belinda denied the mismanagement allegations, saying her father’s “idiosyncratic business pursuits” forced her to assume greater control.
Twenty-nine members of last year’s list passed away, including Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who died of lymphoma in October. An active philanthropist worth $20.3 billion at his death, Allen donated an estimated $2.5 billion to charity over his lifetime.
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