America’s Biggest Billionaire Loser is Casino Boss

Last week, Gambling911.com reported on how Forbes Magazine listed India born PartyGaming co-founder, Anurag Dikshit among the biggest billionaire blowups in 2008 (they valued his net worth at a mere $1.1 billion).  And now for some more sad news, America's biggest billionaire loser is none other than casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.

Forbes points out that last year Adelson was worth in excess of $28 billion. A month later, shares of his Las Vegas Sands (nyse:  LVS) casino company had swelled to an all-time high of $144 a share, adding another $10 billion to Adelson's fortune. Between September 2006 and September 2007, he made $20.5 million per day.

From Forbes:

Proud of his accomplishments, the plutocrat reportedly adopted a new nickname. According to a 2008 article in The New Yorker magazine, he began referring to himself as "Sheldon Adelson the 3rd," a nod to his place on our list as America's third-richest citizen.

But Adelson's fortunes turned around for the worst.  With the economy collapsing and fewer people traveling to gambling empires the likes of Las Vegas and Macau, LVS shares have fallen 95 percent and a whopping $24 billion was erased from the gambling mogul's fortune.

And like Mr. Dikshit, Adelson may have a tough time making the 2009 Forbes Billionaire list.

Adelson tops the Forbes list of America's 25 biggest losers of 2008, an estimate of the largest drops (in dollars) of American citizens holding publicly traded stocks from Jan. 2, 2008 to Dec. 5, 2008. It excludes shares bought or sold during that period. Fortunes tied to privately held companies were not evaluated; they will be re-tallied for our list of the World's Billionaires in March.

Combined, the tycoons on our ranking lost $167 billion in 11 months, while shares of the companies in which they own stakes fell an average 59%.

Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com