A million dollars might not be cool, a billion dollars might be cool, but losing a billion dollars? That's definitely not cool. Just ask the five guys who lost big in 2012. Mark Pincus, the founder of mobile gaming giant Zynga, dropped off the Forbes list of billionaires after the company's stock plunged 75% over the course the year. Of course, given his former $1.8B fortune, even that drastic decline left the entrepreneur with $450M, more than enough to purchase this historic San Francisco home for $16M. The 11,500-square-foot mansion previously belonged to San Francisco's distinguished Newhall family, who had held the property for 105 years, and boasts seven bedrooms and seven baths.
? 2012 was a pretty awful year for Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, who lost around $52M a day, thanks to the plunging value of his mining holdings. His fortune was down $19.5B in 2012 alone, leaving the mining titan with an estimated $10.5B by March of this year. Chances are his lifestyle hasn't suffered much—this is the guy who parks a $500K Mercedes supercar in his living room (above)—but his family was caught up in a torrid scandal after his son struck and killed a pedestrian while whizzing around in that very car.
? Amazon founder Jeff Bezos didn't need a whole year to lose a billion dollars, he managed to do it in just one day last month. When Amazon's earning reports failed to meet analyst estimates, the stock dipped by 7.23% and Bezos took a personal hit of $1.73B. Still, the web bookstore baron has reams of cash left in the bank, so he probably won't be selling off his 12,000-square-foot Beverly Hills estate, purchased in 2007 for a whopping $30M. Best of all, this is just a second home for Bezos, who spends much of his time at a similarly gargantuan house on Mercer Island, Wash., not far from Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates.
— Irish brewer-turned-banking investor Sean Quinn was once the country's richest man, but thanks to the recession, he found himself owing creditors billions of dollars. The bankrupt ex-billionaire once lived lavishly in this lakeside mansion, but recently spent nine months in jail for contempt of court, for attempting to hide his assets. Now the Irish government is going after Quinn's foreign holdings, so, unlike many on this list, this big loser may find himself truly penniless by the end of this year.
? Then, inevitably, we come to Mark Zuckerberg, the man for whom "You know what's cool? A billion dollars" was coined. The Facebook founder became a multi-billionaire overnight upon Facebook's IPO last May, but the stock's slide has left him $4.2B poorer, on paper anyway. No one will be crying for the Zuck, however, as he still holds stock worth some $13B, and shacks up in this $7M Silicon Valley pad.
· The Over-the-Top Mansions of Rich Tech Entrepreneurs [Curbed National]
· Biggest Loser Of The Year, Eike Batista Lost More Than $2 Million Per Hour [Forbes]
· Celeb Round Up: Bezos Edition [Curbed LA]
· Ultimate downfall [Daily Mail]
· Irish Search for Billionaire's Assets Leads to Russia [NYT]
· Forbes rankings finds 210 new billionaires [CNN Money]
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