The rich got poorer this year — but they’ve still got loads more dough than the rest of us, according to Forbes magazine’s new list of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
Microsoft mastermind Bill Gates led the pack for the 16th straight year, with a staggering $50 billion net worth — and that’s after losing $7 billion in the past 12 months.
Warren Buffett, America’s favorite investor, held onto the No. 2 spot with $40 billion, despite shedding $10 billion from his balance sheet, as shares of his Berkshire Hathaway tumbled 20 percent for the year, Forbes noted.
And Mayor Mike Bloomberg remained the richest guy in New York — he was No. 8 nationwide — with a bankbook valued at $17.5 billion. That’s $1.5 billion less than Hizzoner was worth last year, but well ahead of the average “400 List” net worth of $3.17 billion.
Energy and manufacturing whiz David Koch continued to rank as New York’s second-richest man, with $16 billion; hedge fund guru George Soros took third position, at $13 billion — a $2 billion bump from last year.
Overall, the collective net worth of America’s wealthiest dropped — for only the fifth time in the list’s 28-year history — to $1.27 trillion from $1.57 trillion a year ago, according to Forbes.
Racking up the list’s biggest gain was Dallas banker and high-stakes poker player Andrew Beal. He tripled his net worth to $4.5 billion, gobbling up loans and assets on the cheap last fall.
The biggest losers included Las Vegas casino king Kirk Kerkorian, who was off $8.2 billion, and Jack C. Taylor, founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, who took a $7 billion hit.
There are 19 new members — including New Yorkers Charles Zegar, a Bloomberg LP co-founder, and trading tycoon Steven Schonfeld, both coming in at $1 billion. Other newcomers included Marvel Comics’ Isaac Perlmutter and digital mapping ace Jack Dangermond.
Former Citigroup chief and 400 List veteran Sandy Weill was among the New York casualties, as was hedge fund heavyweight and Facebook investor Peter Thiel.