Forbes always thinks up of a new list when it comes to listing the rich. The new segment they have added to their world’s rich list is the royals. The biggest royal looser in this list this year is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Makhtoum, the ruler of Dubai. His fortunes witnessed a drastic decline of $7.5 billion. This is a drop of over 60% on his total net worth. And what is even more remarkable, that it has come after a drop of $6 billion which the Sheikh lost last year in the wake of the emirate’s financial implosion.
By the Sheikh’s standards his bank balance has gone down to a dangerously low levels of $4.5 billion. It can be described as dangerously low because just two years ago the figure stood at $18 billion. If you do the simple math you will realise that his losses or the decline in his net worth, in just two years is a huge $13.5 billion. For ordinary folks like us it is difficult to imagine how you can loose that kind of money and still survive.
There are other surprises in the world’s richest royals list. Bhumibol Adlyadej of Thailand has topped the list with his $30 billion fortune which remains unchanged. Sultan of Brunei ($20 billion) and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia ($18 billion) are the rich amongst the kings and adorn the top half of the list. The Queen of England with a fortune of just $450 million brings up the rear. Collectively the royals of the world have lost $10 billion or 9% of their fortune.
