The wealth of the richest Arabs plunged in 2008, with Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the richest of all, seeing his investments shrivel nearly 20 percent, according to a list published in Dubai on Sunday. Alwaleed's wealth has shrunk by $4 billion to $17.08 billion under the impact of this year's global financial turmoil, Arabian Business online magazine said in a survey of the richest 50 Arab people. The combined assets of the top 50 have plummeted by $25 billion or 12 percent to $199.48 billion, based on data calculated on Dec. 2, the magazine said. Despite his losses, Alwaleed remains top of the list, though his wealth sank twice as much as that of second placed Nasser Al-Kharafi, a Kuwaiti businessman whose value is estimated to have dropped by $2 billion to $9.6 billion. In May, Alwaleed ranked 19 in the Forbes list of world billionaires with $21 billion. His wealth includes a five percent stake in the US banking giant Citigroup and a private Airbus superjumbo A380, dubbed as the “flying palace” and valued at $330 million. “As a sign of the downturn in global stocks, nine of the top ten on this year's list have seen their wealth decline,” Arabian Business said, citing the collapse in the value of property and banking shares as the main reason behind the drop. The list clearly did not include Arab rulers. Saudi Arabia takes the lion's share of the Arabian Business list, boasting 16 billionaires who have combined wealth of $92.58 billion. The Bin Laden family rank seventh with a net worth of $7.2 billion generated from their construction business. The United Arab Emirates is second ranked country with eight billionaires, having $31.5 billion between them. Seven Kuwaitis feature on the list with a total of $24.4 billion. Saad Hariri, the head of Lebanon's parliamentary majority and son of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri who made most of his wealth in Saudi Arabia, ranks 31 with $2.6 billion.
