It was a year of AI-driven boom for many of the world’s billionaires. Most are richer than when they reached 2025 and, as a group, accumulated a record fortune of $18.7 trillion as of December 22. But not everyone was a winner. About a quarter of the more than 2,700 billionaires who existed at the end of 2024 (excluding 36 who have already died) became poorer over the past year, including 85 who are no longer billionaires.
No one has fallen as low as Hermès’ fifth-generation French heir Nicolas Puech, who alleged that his Hermès shares had disappeared and that his late financial advisor had sold them without his knowledge to French billionaire Bernard Arnault and his luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (which both Arnault and LVMH have denied). Without those actions, Forbes has completely removed Puech — whose fortune was estimated at $14.8 billion at the end of 2024 — from the list of billionaires.
Overall, more than 660 billionaires (and former billionaires) are less wealthy in 2025, although most of their circumstances were much less scandalous, with headwinds such as tariffs, inflation, higher interest rates and disruptive advances in artificial intelligence affecting their fortunes. There were losers in most sectors, although manufacturing lost the most, with 101, followed by technology (89) and fashion and retail (77). They come from 51 countries, although the United States led the list with 186 billionaire (and former billionaire) losers, followed by India (109) and China (91).
Restoration Hardware’s U.S. chairman and chief executive Gary Friedman, who has led the publicly traded high-end furniture retailer since 2001, was another of this year’s biggest losers. His fortune dropped by about $1.2 billion to about $850 million as RH stock plunged 55% in 2025, due in large part to President Trump’s tariffs. Reacting to the impact of a Trump tariff announcement on RH’s stock price in April, Friedman couldn’t contain himself and let out an “Oh shit!” at the company’s results presentation that day. You probably weren’t the only billionaire, or former billionaire, who had the same idea over the past year.
Read more: Bill Gates donated billions to his ex-wife’s foundation last year, and only millions to his own
Listed below are ten more notable billionaire losers from 2025. Data as of December 22.
Willis Johnson
Net worth as of December 22: $2.3 billion (-$1 billion in 2025)
Source of wealth: Damaged cars
Citizenship: USA
Surge in automotive demand during the COVID-19 pandemic made Dallas-based Copart, a leader in online auctions for used and wrecked cars, a big winner during supply chain disruptions and high used car prices. As these favorable factors have slowed, Copart shares have fallen 30% from their May highs.
E. Joe Shoen
Net worth: $3.3 billion (-$1.1 billion)
Source of wealth: U-Haul
Citizenship: USA
Mark Shoen
Net worth: $3.9 billion (-$1.2 billion)
Source of wealth: U-Haul
Citizenship: USA
U-Haul’s record revenue is overshadowed by fleet depreciation and rising operating costs, which has contributed to a stock decline of about 26% over the past year, reducing the value of its stock by more than $2 billion combined to the fortune of Chairman Joe Shoen and CEO Mark Shoen. The brothers control the company their parents co-founded in 1945, after a famously controversial family power struggle in the 1980s that transformed U-Haul’s leadership.
Andres Bialecki
Net worth: $2.9 billion (-$1.2 billion)
Source of wealth: Software de marketing
Citizenship: USA
Shares of Klaviyo, the marketing automation software company co-founded by Bialecki, hit an all-time high in February, up 40% ahead of its 2023 IPO, amid strong investor interest in enterprise technology. That enthusiasm has since faded, with the stock falling about 22% as investors temper growth expectations for SaaS companies, which face tighter corporate budgets and increasingly intense competition.
Albert Chao and family
James Chao and family
Dorothy Chao Jenkins and family
Net worth: $2.8 billion each (-$1.3 billion each)
Source of wealth: Chemicals
Citizenship: USA
The Chao brothers each own about 25% of Westlake Corporation, the petrochemical and plastics maker founded by their father, TT Chao, in 1986. Weak profits and a slowdown in global construction and industrial demand have weighed heavily on the company’s shares this year, helping the shares fall 35%, leaving the brothers collectively about $3.8 billion poorer than they were a year ago.
Joe Mansueto
Net worth: $5.3 billion (-$1.7 billion)
Source of wealth: Investment research
Citizenship: USA
Mansueto founded Morningstar more than three decades ago and still owns about a third of the financial services and investment research company. The stock has fallen nearly 35% in the past six months, along with a broad decline in many information services stocks on concerns about generative AI. Meanwhile, Mansueto is diversifying his focus and his fortune by personally helping finance a $650 million soccer stadium in the South Loop for his MLS team, the Chicago Fire.
Thomas Hagen and family
Net worth: $5.6 billion (-$2.1 billion)
Source of wealth: Insurance
Citizenship: USA
Hagen and his family control the company behind Erie Insurance, the auto, home, business and life insurer. The stock peaked in October 2024 and has since fallen sharply, as have those of several insurers, including an 8% drop after the company’s third-quarter results missed revenue expectations in October.
Michael Saylor
Net worth: $5.2 billion (-$2.4 billion)
Source of wealth: Cryptocurrencies
Citizenship: USA
No one is betting more on cryptocurrencies than Saylor, who has led his publicly traded business software company Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) to purchase more than 670,000 bitcoins (valued at nearly $60 billion) and has also amassed a ten-figure personal wealth. The stock has more than doubled in value over the past two years, thanks to the skyrocketing price of bitcoin. But now, with the cryptocurrency crash, the stock has fallen 45% this year, reducing Saylor’s net worth by billions.
Scott Farquhar
Net worth: $11.2 billion (-$3.6 billion)
Source of wealth: Software
Citizenship: Australia
Mike Cannon-Brookes
Net worth: $11.6 billion (-$3.7 billion)
Source of wealth: Software
Citizenship: Australia
Atlassian’s co-founders became tech billionaires by creating one of the most widely used work collaboration software platforms in the world. However, the shares have fallen 32% this year, as investors worry about companies reducing their hiring of cloud software services amid reduced budgets and rising interest rates.
Jeff T. Green
Net worth: $2.6 billion (-$3.7 billion)
Source of wealth: Digital advertising
Citizenship: USA
The Trade Desk, the digital advertising firm he founded in 2009, was one of the most successful companies during the pandemic thanks to the transition to programmatic advertising. However, advertising spending is currently limited, worrying investors about slowing revenue growth and rising operating expenses. The stock fell 68% after the announcement of fiscal 2024 results in February, 39% after the announcement of second-quarter 2025 earnings in August and 14% after the third quarter in early November, despite beating Wall Street expectations. In total, the stock is down 68% this year.
Manuel Villar
Net worth: $4.8 billion (-$13.5 billion)
Source of wealth: Real estate
Citizenship: Filipinas
The 76-year-old president of Manila-based real estate developer Vista Land & Lifescapes saw his fortune plummet by more than $5 billion in two days in November after the company announced it was slashing the valuation of one of its most prominent properties in southern Metro Manila by 99%. Shares of Vista, which had just resumed trading after being suspended since May due to the company’s failure to file an audited financial report, plummeted nearly 50% following the news.
This article was originally published by Forbes US.
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