Zuckerberg Tumbles From Bloomberg's Billionaires List

Mark Zuckerberg’s famous indifference toward money must be coming in handy right about now.

Bloomberg provides some context as to just how much Facebook's slumping stock is bringing down the 28-year-old billionaire's personal fortune: Zuckerberg's estimated net worth fell $2.5 billion over the past four days, and by more than $4 billion since his company's much-anticipated IPO earlier this month. (Yep, that's billion with a B.)

Of course, it's tough to lose a billion or two without first having a few to spare, and Zuckerberg appears to have just that. The financial news outlet explains that even after the drop, Zuckerberg is still worth an estimated $14.7 billion on paper.

At that total, however, the social media tycoon can no longer claim membership in Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 40 richest people. The stock’s continued decline allowed Luis Carlos Sarmiento, Colombia’s richest man, to edge out Zuckerberg for the final spot in that particular gilded (and admittedly arbitrary) clubhouse by about $800 million.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Facebook stock sat about a dime above the $28 mark, otherwise known as about $10 below where it was priced by its historic IPO.

Despite pointed fingers in the financial press and fresh shareholder lawsuits, Zuckerberg himself has remained largely out of sight since the initial offering, turning up mostly in tabloids while on his honeymoon in Europe. And as several observers have pointed out, Zuckerberg’s real bottom line remains unchanged: the stock structure ensures he retains uncontested control over the company no matter how low the stock goes.

[Elsewhere in Slate: Eliot Spitzer on why the IPO was properly priced.]

For those of you who are curious, here's Bloomberg's current top 10:

1. Carlos Slim Helú ($67.9 billion)    
2. Bill Gates ($60.5 billion)    
3. Warren Buffett ($44.7 billion)
4. Ingvar Kamprad ($38.1 billion)    
5. Amancio Ortega Gaona ($36.4 billion)
6. Charles De Ganahl Koch ($34.3 billion)
7. David Hamilton Koch ($34.3 billion)
8. Larry Ellison ($34.0 billion)
9. Eike Fuhrken Batista ($27.4 billion)
10. Christy R. Walton ($26.7 billion)