Turkey in top three countries to lose its billionaires in global downturn

The number of billionaires globally fell to 793 from 1,125 a year ago, plummeting to $2.4 trillion from $4.4 trillion Forbes said, adding that the number of billionaires in Turkey in 2008 declined to 13 from 35 the previous, the highest fall after Russia and India.

 

Turkey experienced the highest decline in the number of billionaires in the Middle East region, president and the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Steve Forbes said.

 

Depreciation of the Turkish lira against the U.S. dollar by some 30 percent was the main reason for this result, he added.

 

The Turkish economy, which increasingly feels the impact of the global financial crisis, recorded only 0.5 percent growth in the third quarter of 2008, the lowest since Turkey emerged from a financial crisis in 2001. The growth rate is expected to decline in 2009, while an economic contraction is forecasted.

 

Husnu Ozyegin, owner of FIBA Holding, became Turkey’s richest person with $2.9 billion, while Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, the owner of Cukurova Holding, which has a stake in Turkey's leading GSM operator, Turkcell, ranked second with $2.8 billion.

 

Ozyegin was placed 221st in the global list, while Karamehmet ranked in 224th place. Â

 

GATES TOPS THE LIST

Microsoft founder Bill Gates was again named the world's richest man in a year when even billionaires felt the heat of the global recession, the magazine also said.

 

Gates topped the list with a net worth of $40 billion, although he saw his bank balance lose $18 billion over the last 12 months. U.S. investor Warren Buffett was placed second with $37 billion, despite losing $25 billion this year in the value of his Berkshire Hathaway shares.

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Also recording a loss of $25 billion in 2008 was Mexican telecom's king Carlos Slim who still managed to come in third with $35 billion.