The wealthiest individuals in America have lost a combined $39.2 billion in the past 12 months, according to the latest Forbes 400 rich list.

Meanwhile, the list of the 400 richest people globally, complied by Forbes Magazine, noted that the world’s 400 wealthiest people are $300 billion worse off, having lost 19 per cent of their combined wealth.

US ultra high net worth individuals account for 44 per cent of the list’s monetary value and fill 180 slots in the rankings. Americans also occupy the list’s top positions, but were not excluded from the general decline, with

Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, losing $18 billion andWarren Buffett, last year’s number one, losing $25 billion.

In all, the combined worth of the 10 richest Americans fell 14 per cent.

Lawrence Ellison, who is worth $27 billion, was the only American not to see their wealth shrink. Worldwide, only 86 people saw their wealth unchanged.

In June, the

Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report noted that the wealth of high net worth individuals fell by 19.5 per cent in 2008 while the global population of this group fell by 14.9 per cent.

The biggest fall in the HNW population in 2008 was in North America, with a drop of 19 per cent. The second and third biggest falls were in Europe (14.4 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (14.2 per cent).

Merrill Lynch and Capgemini said they expect North America, the world’s biggest wealth management market, and Asia-Pacific to lead re-growth in HNW individuals’ financial wealth, but predict Asia-Pacific will overtake North America by 2013.

Of the top nations Brazil suffered least, with a decline in wealth of 8.7 per cent. Germany also faired well with a HNW drop of only 2.7 per cent. It avoided a steep contraction partly because people were more heavily invested in conservative asset classes than those in other countries, the report said.

Worse off than the US, according to Merrill's report, were Hong Kong and India. The population of HNW individuals in Hong Kong plunged 61.3 per cent while India fell 31.6 per cent.