So, who’s who of the world’s richest men. Well, apparently not even a $5.9 billion loss could topple Bill Gates as the richest man on the planet. Gates topped Forbes magazine’s rankings of the world’s richest billionaires for the eighth straight year, even though his net worth fell 10 percent from a year ago to $52.8 billion.

Gates remained comfortably ahead of Warren Buffett, who held the No. 2 spot with $35 billion, according to the 16th annual ranking released Thursday. It was a list most notable for its losers.

The number of billionaires dropped by 83 this year to 497 as recession and fallout from the terrorist attacks reduced their wealth. Among those missing from the list were AOL Time Warner (AOL) Chairman Steve Case, whose company’s stock has declined by about half since last year, and Gary Winnick, chairman of Global Crossing (GBLXQ), which filed for bankruptcy protection in January.