Posted 10/02/09 at 08:30:48 AM by Paul Lilly

Not to worry, Bill and Melinda didn't shave their heads, and to the best of our knowledge, neither one of them had a mental breakdown. And we're not going to post a viral video, though we do sympathize with Bill Gates being the tech industry's biggest loser on Forbe's annual list of the 400 wealthiest Americans.

According to Forbes, Gates will have to get by with a net worth now valued at just $50 billion. Sure, he's still the wealthiest American on the list for the 16th year in a row, but he's also down $7 billion from last year. No other tech mogul lost as much, and the thought of Gates and Co. dining on lobster thermidor with gold plated silverware instead of platinum is just too much.

All tallied, the 400 wealthiest Americans fell by $300 billion since last year. Paul Allen (No. 17) and Steve Ballmer (No. 14) lost $4.5 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively, while Michael Dell (N9. 13) is down $2.8 billion

Grab a box of tissues and view the full list here.

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