Big names losing big money, too
BY The Associated Press
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Published: November 4, 2008
NEW YORK — Here’s something that might provide a bit of solace amid the plunging values in your retirement accounts: Warren Buffett is losing lots of money, too. So are Kirk Kerkorian, Carl Icahn and Sumner Redstone.
They are still plenty rich, but their losses — some on paper and others actually realized — illustrate how few have been spared in today’s punishing market. The portfolio damage for some of these high-flyers has soared to billions of dollars. And they can’t just blame the market’s downdraft — some did themselves in with badly timed stock purchases or margin calls on shares bought with loans. "It’s always hard to beat the market no matter who you are,” said Robert Hansen, senior associate dean at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. "But when the ocean waters get that rough, it is hard for any boat to avoid getting swamped.” According to new research by compensation consulting firm Steven Hall & Partners, Buffett tops the list, followed by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Rounding out the top five were Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos and News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch..
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