While what you say is very true, I do think the churn on the Forbes list is actually due to the fortune of companies. Most people on the Forbes list are not div

While what you say is very true, I do think the churn on the Forbes list is actually due to the fortune of companies. Most people on the Forbes list are not diversified. If the company the person founded plummets, so does their wealth. I happened to attend high school with the children of Dennis Bakke, who graced the Forbes list for 3 straight years. Shares in AES, the company he started, peaked at ~$68/share in the Fall of 2000. By July of 2002, AES was at $3/share. He hasn't been on the list since the plummet. That story is fairly common among the lower ranks of the Forbes list.