21. PETER THIEL
(Previously 20th)
Only Thiel, don of the so-called "PayPal mafia" (he cofounded the company in 1999 at 31, sold it four years later for $1.5 billion, and was an early investor in Facebook and LinkedIn,) could lose an estimated $5.5 billion in assets (through his hedge fund, Clarium Capital) in one year and still be called "an angel on a hot streak" by Business Week. 2009 may not have been his best year on record, but the 42-year-old archangel investor is neither down nor out.
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