On Forbes List of Billionaires: Oppenheimer, Graff, Steinmetz, Leviev

Nicky Oppenheimer (above) among top 100 wealthiest people

The Forbes' list is leaner this year, shrinking to 793 people from 1125 a year ago. Their collective fortune, as well as individual, is much less that it was a year ago, or as the magazine puts it, “The richest people in the world have gotten poorer, just like the rest of us.”

Despite the economic woes, the list notes 38 new billionaires from 11 countries. Nine of the new billionaires inherited all or part of their fortunes.

Bill Gates tops the list, even though he has lost $18 billion. Gates regained his title as the world's richest man with an estimated fortune of $40 billion.

At number 98 in the list of wealthiest people, Nicky Oppenheimer and family is estimated to have a net worth of $5 billion. Oppenheimer, 63, went through “a sea change,” according to Forbes, listing the settlement of the U.S. price-fixing suit, the partial sale of De Beers to a black-empowerment company in South Africa and a third of its holding in Anglo-American. According to Forbes, Oppenheimer’s response to declining markets, “If you're going through hell, keep going.”

The self-made Laurence Graff, ranked number 305 with an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion, is the only jeweler on the list. Graff, 70, specializes in the highest end of jewelry retailing, has 30 stores worldwide and a list of clients that also appear on the Forbes list such as the Sultan and Queen of Brunei and Donald Trump. A self-made tycoon who spent his childhood in London's gritty East End, his assets include jewelry company Graff Diamonds International, miner Gem Diamonds, a polished diamond trading company in Antwerp, a real estate company in Luxembourg and a stake in South African Sightholder Safdico.

With a net worth of $2 billion, Beny Steinmetz, 52, has diversified from diamonds, focusing on iron and other commodities as well as real estate and mining operations. Like most others on the list this year, Steinmetz took a blow as the financial markets tumbled, hurt especially by a drop in real estate interest. Forbes lists real estate holdings in Kazakhstan, Russia and Eastern Europe. “Worth of mining assets, including privately held Cunico and publicly traded Katanga Mining, down 75 percent since last year,” the magazine noted, while adding that he “Remains opportunistic.”

Number 468 on the list of billionaires, 53 year-old Lev Leviev, saw his net worth decline to $1.5 billion. The self-made diamond magnate is the world's largest diamond cutter and polisher, according to Forbes and is “trying to hold his empire together.” Holding a controlling stake in conglomerate Africa Israel Investments, he is selling off properties to meet debt obligations. “High end diamond business slowing as demand dries up; jewelry stores in Russia holding their own as Russians flock to gems because of unsteady banking sector.”