Even for those at the top of the list, things can change.

REAL estate went up, entertainment profits went down, oil prices shot up, and the S&P 500 surged. That was last year's economy and it's certainly reflected on the list of the 50 wealthiest Angelenos.

There were, of course, mergers, buyouts and the occasional scandal. Forty-three watched their wealth increase over the past year. In some spectacular cases, fortunes shrank. Thirty-eight of the top 50 are billionaires; the rest are multi-millionaires.

Activist-investor Kirk Kerkorian topped the 2006 list with an estimated $9.3 billion, up from $8.1 billion last year, despite his billion-dollar gamble on General Motors Corp. His Las Vegas casino investments continued to expand as the MGM Mirage doubled down on Mandalay Bay, giving Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. control of about half the hotel rooms on the Strip.

Kerkorian unseated media mogul Sumner Redstune, who wound up in second place this year as his fortunes dipped to $7.4 billion, from $8.3 billion last year, due to the faltering stocks of his CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. as viewership declined, ad revenue suffered, and the once TV-crazy youth audience spent most of the year logged onto social networking site MySpace.com. (Now owned by rival News Corp.)

Bringing up the rear of the track was car buff and chili expert Robert Peterson (No. 50), with an estimated $760 million, up from $716 million last year. A collector of Old-West memorabilia, Peterson harkened back to the California Gold Rush for this year's moneymaker. He's an investor known to be long on gold, which enjoyed record prices of as much as $700 per ounce recently--prices not seen since 1980.

By contrast, last year's No. 50, Walt Disney Corp.'s Michael Eisner (no longer ranked), was worth an estimated $621 million.

There were three newcomers to the list: Ming Hsieh, (No. 36) founder and Chief Executive of Cogent Systems Inc., fingerprint identification and security software firm whose stock skyrocketed this year after an initial public offering and border security contracts. Hsieh's net worth is an estimated $1 billion--he owns 55 percent of the company.

Frank and Jamie McCourt (No. 45), came in with approximately $860 million, wrapped up in ownership of L.A. Dodgers and East Coast real estate investments. The only actor to make the list, Mel Gibson (No. 47) is a newcomer with an estimated $850 million after the successful worldwide run of "The Passion of the Christ."

Real Estate

While current real estate prices may be hurting many California homebuyers, shrewd investors with means saw their net worth expand. John Shea (No. 12), residential and commercial developer and financier, gained 25 percent in his real estate portfolio, now worth an estimated $3 billion. Developer Alan Casden (No. 28) had similar gains, his wealth ballooning to $1.5 billion, up 25 percent from last year. Investment manager John Anderson (No. 24) and commercial developer Edward Roski Jr. (No. 17) gained about 15 percent each: Anderson's now worth an estimated $1.6 billion, while Roski hit $2.3 billion.

Some Hollywood moguls took a hit with the rest of the entertainment and record industries, in a year of disappointing ticket sales and sinking ad revenues. DreamWorks Animation SKG head Jeffrey Katzenberg (No. 46) saw his wealth drop 9 percent, to $859 million, after the company missed earnings forecasts and became the subject of an SEC probe--the stock sank 35 percent. David Geffen (No. 7), co-founder of DreamWorks, dropped 2 percent to $4.2 billion. Frederick "Ted" Field (No. 39) lost 14 percent of his net worth, now an estimated $950 million, through the dissolution of his ArtistDirect Inc. Internet music label.

On the positive side of the entertainment business, Steven Spielberg (No. 14), the third DreamWorks founder, managed to gain 8 percent, coming in at $2.8 billion this year through successful transition to interactive entertainment: He's developing video games for Electronic Arts Inc. An 11th Academy Award nomination for "Munich" didn't hurt either. Roy Disney's (No. 34) fortune shot up 20 percent to $1.2 billion, as Walt Disney Co. enjoyed a bright spot in the entertainment landscape.

Internet

EBay Inc. billionaire Jeffrey Skull (No. 5) weighed in at $4.8 billion, up 7 percent due to eBay stock, but he spent the year on the Hollywood circuit. His production company, Participant Productions, came up with 11 Oscar nominations for the films "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Syriana," "North Country," and "Murderball."

Media magnate Haim Saban (No. 11) had to go to Europe for his big bucks. His 2003 investment in German broadcaster ProSiebenSat1 paid off this year as the company tripled in value, helped out by favorable currency exchange rates.

The biggest gainer was financial manager Robert Addison Day Jr. (No. 12), whose fortune increased 76 percent to $3 billion, thanks to his share in French bank Groupe Societe Generale SA and a strong euro.

Barbara Davis (No. 3), the widow of investor tycoon Marvin Davis, held on to her third place spot with $6 billion, though the family lost about $400 million last year when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wiped out Davis Petroleum and Davis Offshore's Gulf Coast oil rigs. The companies filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy this year, The family is now out of the oil business, which fueled the Davis fortune more than 50 years ago.

A strong year for the stock market boosted the fortunes of Bradley Wayne Hughes (No. 9), whose shares in Public Storage Inc. increased his wealth to $3.6 billion, up 33 percent. A rebound in the embattled insurance company American International Group Inc. lifted Eli Broad (No. 4) to $5.6 billion, Steven Ferencz Udvar-Hazy (No. 10) to $3.4 billion, Leslie Gonta (No. 29) and Louis Gonda (No. 29) to $1.3 billion.

The scandals were kept to a minimum this year, with Roland Arnall (No. 20) being appointed ambassador to the Netherlands mere weeks after his Ameriquest Mortgage Co. settled a $325 million lawsuit that accused the company of predatory lending practices. (The company admitted no wrongdoing, but agreed to change its lending practices.) Arnall lost about 14 percent of his net worth in the deal, down to $1.8 billion.

And after a rough year of a well-publicized divorce, supermarket investor Ron Burkle (No. 18) found himself embroiled in the public eye as the victim of possible extortion. Burkle accused a New York Post gossip writer of demanding payments for positive press, leading to the firing of much of the Page Six editorial staff. Regardless of what "the papers" say about him, Burkle looks good in the financial section: His net worth jumped 10 percent to $2.2 billion.

L.A. Money

The number of billionaires was down this year even as total
wealth increased among the wealthiest Angelenos.

By Industry
Real Estate/Hospitality            11
Entertainment/Media                10
Investments                         8
Technology/Telecom                  5
Inheritance                         5
Retail/Consumer                     4
Biotechnology                       3
Financial Services                  2
Insurance                           2

Biggest Wealth Gainers
Robert Addison Day Jr.             76%
Haim Saban                         35
Bradley Wayne Hughes & Family      33
A. Jerrold Perenchio               33

Biggest Wealth Losers
Roland Arnall                     -14%
Frederick 'Ted' Field             -14
Sumner Redstone                   -11

Source: Business Journal Research