So Archie Karas won 40 million and lost it all, Terry Watanabe gambled away his whole fortune to the tune of 127 million. I’m sure Saddam Hussein’s loss was substantial to say the least.
So my question is, throughout history, what’s the greatest fortune a single individual has lost?
Mike Tyson went bankrupt, as did MC Hammer.
Do you count voluntary surrender of money ? Bill Gates was at one time the wealthiest man on Earth, and he’s said he intends to give his entire wealth away before he dies.
I think he said 95% (as a practical matter, I doubt he intends to die a pauper). But he’s already given 28 billion to his various foundations. I suspect that’s probably the largest single loss by an individual if you don’t adjust for inflation.
If you’re talking about natural persons, the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, supposedly lost $30bn of his $40bn fortune on bad investments and legal disputes. He had 5,000 cars and a palace with nearly 2,000 rooms.
If you include companies as legal individuals then AIG lost $99bn in 2008. AOL Time Warner lost the same amount in 2002, which in today’s terms would be $123bn, the largest real-terms loss ever. AIG lost $66bn in the last three months of 2008 alone.
In terms of bankruptcies Lehman Brothers was the largest in history, going under with over $600bn in assets, twice as much as the nearest contender (WaMu) and six times as much as the third-placed (WorldCom).
i didn’t think of donating the money but I guess Warren Buffet would fall into that category. He also has said that he would donate around 30 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation when he passes away.