Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel magnate who has led the Sunday Times Rich List for four years, is thought to have been hit hardest by the credit crunch. His stake in the family steel business, ArcelorMittal, fell by about £23 billion to an estimated £9.5 billion in the past six months, as demand for steel plunged.

The crisis in Iceland cost Robert Tchenguiz, the billionaire property entrepreneur, well over £700 million. He had borrowed heavily from Kaupthing, Iceland’s biggest bank, to fund his investments in Mitchells & Butler, the pubs operator, and J Sainsbury at the height of the bull market in 2007. Just before Kaupthing was nationalised in October, it recalled loans, forcing Mr Tchenguiz to sell both stakes.

The Bahamas-based tax exile Joe Lewis scooped up the 22 per cent stake in M&B at 130p a share, against the 500p a share that Mr Tchenguiz paid. His 10 per cent holding in Sainsbury’s was put up for sale at 250p a share, half his estimated purchase price of 450p-500p. But Mr Lewis, who was said to have made more on the collapse of sterling on Black Wednesday in 1992 than George Soros, has not made all the right calls. He lost £500 million in March when Bear Stearns, the Wall Street bank in which he held a 10 per cent stake, collapsed.

Initial research for the 2009 Rich List, to be published in the spring, suggests that the fortunes of Britain’s 1,000 wealthiest people have been halved in the past year. Those affected include Charles Dunstone, founder of Carphone Warehouse, Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin tycoon, and Sir Stelios HajiIoannou, of easyJet.

The slump in the property market has cost Sir Tom Hunter,the Scottish entrepreneur, £35 million.

The losses from the world’s biggest alleged financial fraud, the “Ponzi” scheme run by Bernard Madoff, are just beginning to emerge. The latest victims identified are the actor Kevin Bacon and the economist Henry Kaufman. No figures have yet been placed on their losses, but the whole fraud is expected to total $50 billion.

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