Soon-Shiong pushed aside longtime No. 1 Kirk Kerkorian, who sustained a sickening $5.3 billion loss in wealth. Of course, during this tumultuous year, 41 of the 50 Wealthiest Angelenos also took big hits.

The Business Journal's annual special report includes rankings, profiles and an interview with a surprise billionaire who bought a mansion so immense he doesn? see parts of it for months at a time.

Though their pain may not inspire much sympathy, Los Angeles County's richest residents suffered through their worst year on record.

The 50 Wealthiest Angelenos collectively lost more than $32 billion as the deepening recession took a toll on virtually every major industry. Los Angeles now has just 29 billionaires, the lowest total in five years.

Forty-one people on last year? list lost at least $100 million; eight lost more than $1 billion. The tumult also upended the order of the Business Journal? rankings.

Maverick investor Kirk Kerkorian, who held the top position for three years, lost more money than anyone. The majority owner of casino operator MGM Mirage lost half his fortune as tourism in Las Vegas dropped dramatically. Still, with $5.3 billion, he only fell two spots.

Perhaps, not surprisingly, the new No. 1, former surgeon Patrick Soon-Shiong, derives his wealth from pharmaceuticals and biotech, two industries that performed relatively strongly. The developer of a nanotechnology-based cancer drug nearly doubled his net worth after selling his other business, generic-drug maker APP Pharmaceuticals, in July. The timely deal earned him $3 billion, pushing his total net worth to $6 billion.

Like Kerkorian, Sumner Redstone, the media mogul who has perennially ranked among the very richest Angelenos, lost more than $5 billion. Amid declining revenue throughout the entertainment industry, Redstone was forced to sell stock holdings in CBS and Viacom at low prices to settle debt covenants, dropping him from No. 2 last year all the way to 14.

David Geffen, Haim Saban and Stephen Bing each took hits due to their exposure to the entertainment industry.

One of the drivers of the economic crisis was the financial industry. Indeed, some of the steepest drops came as a result of exposure to American International Group, the financial services conglomerate that has been at the center of the storm in the economy.

Steven Udvar-Hazy, who sold his aircraft leasing company to AIG in 1990, owns millions of AIG shares, which have become nearly worthless. As a result, Udvar-Hazy fell from the ranks of billionaires, taking the No. 49 spot with a net worth of $520 million.

Father and son entrepreneurs Leslie and Louis Gonda, who teamed with Udvar-Hazy to start International Lease Finance Corp., did even worse because of their exposure to AIG. The Gondas, who held down the Nos. 47 and 35 spots, respectively, in last year? rankings, fell off the list.