Jamaica-born investor and banker Michael Lee-Chin is not among this year's Forbes list of billionaires released last Wednesday.
The list comprising approximately 1,210 billionaires was again topped by telecoms giant Carlos Slim Helu, owner of America Movil, the parent company of Claro Jamaica. Slim Helu possesses a total net worth of US$74 billion.
Microsoft owner Bill Gates is second on the list with a net worth of US$56 billion, while Berkshire Hathaway's Chairman Warren Buffett is worth US$50 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, came in at number 52 with a net worth of US$13.4 billion.
Also making the list was Digicel's Chairman Denis O'Brien at number 254 with a net worth of US$4.2 billion.
Michael Lee-Chin first made the list back in 2001. In 2005, he boasted his highest net worth with US$2.5 billion.
Last year, the NCB chairman held the number 937 position, with a net worth of US$1 billion.
The magazine did not give a reason for the decline in the investor's wealth. However, it is evident that he felt the pinch of the global crisis which came at the end of 2008.
In 2009, Lee-Chin sold the Canadian retail investment fund arm of AIC Limited to Canadian insurance giant Manulife Financial.
This came in light of the fact that he was pressed to come up with US$155 million that AIC Barbados owed bondholders.
Further, the magazine did not disclose his current net worth.
holdings
Along with being chairman of NCB, the largest bank in Jamaica, Lee Chin currently holds a 20 per cent stake in telecommuni-cations company Columbus Communications that owns and operates Flow. His parent company, Portland Holdings Inc, also has controlling interest in CVM Communications Group.
In April 2006, Portland Inc, acquired an 85 per cent controlling stake in the United General Insurance Company. In that same year, he also acquired Medical Associates Limited, a privately held hospital in Kingston.
In addition, Lee-Chin made several acquisition in the tourism sector. Among them, the Trident Villas and Spa in Jamaica, Reggae Beach and Blue Lagoon.
Lee-Chin was named among a list of 48 persons who were billionaires last year but are no longer billionaires this year.
