Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, the richest man in Europe and the 4th richest man in the world, is now the world’s biggest loser from the credit crunch with more than £16 billion/ $29 billion wiped off his fortune by plummeting stock markets in just four months.

Mittal has seen his family’s stake in ArcelorMittal, the steel conglomerate, fall from £33.2/$58.2 billion on June 4 this year to £16.6/$29 billion at the close of Friday’s markets. The loss is the equivalent of £137m/$240 million a day or nearly £6m/$10 million an hour.

Mittal, who paid a record $200 million for a Georgian mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens earlier this year, heads a list of 10 super-rich losers who between them have seen their share portfolios shrink by some £23/$40 billion from their peaks.But no worries, Mittal has still $17 billion left, the London Times reports.

Lakshmi Mittal and family: Steel
Down £16.6bn /$29bn

Anil Agarwal: Metals
Down £2.7bn / $4.7bn

Mike Ashley: Sports retail
Down £960m / $1.7bn

With 57 billion dollars net worth Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, has recovered his spot at the top of the US money heap, displacing investor Warren Buffett as America’s richest person, Forbes magazine’s latest list reveals.

According to Forbes, whose list was published late Wednesday, the golden 400 have 1.3 billion dollars net worth or more. However, the assembled net worth of the richest Americans rose by only 2%, or $30 billion, to $1.57 trillion this year. The average net worth of Forbes 400 members is $3.9 billion.

Forbes said that rising oil and dizzy art prices fuelled the entry of 31 new members into the ultra-rich club and the return of eight previous members.

Liliane Bettencourt, daughter of Eugene Schueller, the man who founded cosmetics giant L’Oréal, tops Forbes’ just-released list of the richest women in Europe with a fortune of $22.9 billion.

That also makes her the world’s richest woman and the 17th richest person on earth, according to Forbes. She is also the second richest person in France, after Bernard Arnault who has an estimated wealth of $26.0 billion.

Following Bettencourt on Europe’s female rich list is a Swedish citizen Birgit Rausing, a packaging heiress with an estimated fortune of $14 billion, while No. 3 is BMW and pharmaceuticals heiress Susanne Klatten, with $13.2 billion.