15 World billionaires who lost their riches (+Photos)

11. Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman is a famous New York Times columnist, who is never afraid of speaking his mind with regard to jobs, the economy, the war in Iraq and every other country, and trade. Unlike many billionaires on this list who have had to work for their wealth from scratch or inherit it from their parents, Thomas Friedman married into a very wealthy family. His wife Anne Bucksbaum is the heiress of General Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust that was worth $3.6 billion before the housing crisis, but slid to less than $25 million. Although Thomas Friedman had very little to do with the billionaire status he found himself in, he must have felt the loss when that status became but a memory.