Von Thurn und Taxis heads billionaires list

The world's youngest billionaire, Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis, has lost approximately 10 per cent of his fortune in the worldwide economic crisis, according to Forbes magazine's list of billionaires under the age of 40. The fortune of the 25-year-old 'car racing bachelor' (pictured) is now estimated at a mere $2.1bn - still enough to retain his title as the world's youngest billionaire.

Forbes first recognised von Thurn und Taxis as a billionaire aged eight but he officially inherited his family's real estate and forestry fortune when he turned 18. Many had expected Mark Zuckerberg, the 24-year-old founder of Facebook to knock Von Thurn und Taxis off his perch, but despite its rapid growth, Zuckerberg's social networking site has yet to turn a correspondingly massive profit.

However, other young dotcom entrepreneurs do feature, and of the 20 names on Forbes's ranking, the richest are Sergei Brin, 35, and Larry Page, 36, who jointly founded Google and are each worth approximately $12bn. However, both have lost $6.5bn since last March in an economic crisis that has hit all the mega-rich 'youngsters' hard: the average net worth of the members of the young billionaires' club has dropped 30 per cent in the last year, from $4.1bn to $2.9bn.

Forbes also reports that the latest entry onto the list was made by 39-year-old Sheik Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahayan – a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family who bought Manchester City football club last year for $300m.