Online Poker Founder One Of The Biggest Billionaire Blowups – 01-04-09

January 4 – In March 2008 his net worth was $1.6 billion. Nine months later it was $1 billion. We’re talking about Party Gaming founder and billionaire Anurag Dikshit. According the Forbes Magazine he is likely to plunge below the billion dollar mark.

Dikshit is the man who designed the software that powers Party Poker, once the largest online poker site in the world. In 2006, Dikshit left the company and was reported to have sold a big amount of shares. The Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act soon came into effect in the US and Party decided to leave the US market. They lost an estimated 80% of their revenue overnight.

In December 2008, Dikshit recently pleaded guilty in a US court for being in violation of. gaming laws and astonishingly agreed to pay a fine of  $300 million. He may also end up in jail for two years when sentence is handed down in  2010. Dikshit has already paid $100 million.

Dikshit is ranked 3rd among the top billionaire blowups of 2008.

Dikshit’s looks like small fry when compared to the biggest loser in 2008, Anil Ambani, who was the fastest growing millionaire by March 2008, and has since lost $30 billion in the past nine months. He largely has his estranged brother to blame who scuttled a deal with African telecom MTN.

Another interesting blowup has been West Ham football team owner, Bjorgflur Gudmundsson, ranked just below Dikshit. The collapse of the Icelandic economy saw him lose $1.1 billion of his fortune.