5 CEOs lost $20B this year

Five CEOs of companies in the Russell 1000 index, including Nicholas Woodman of camera maker GoPro, Sheldon Adelson of casino operator Las Vegas Sands and even the famed investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, lost more money on their companies' shares than any other CEOs this year, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ.

These five CEOs were handed a whopping collective $20 billion loss on their company stock in 2015. Each and every one of these CEOs lost $1 billion or more — based on the average number of shares they've owned this year.

Buffett certainly wins the award for having the roughest year — as his position in Berkshire Hathaway took a $7.8 billion hit. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway have declined 11% this year.

Weakness in the casino stocks — fueled by a dramatic slowdown in gaming in Asia — has been absolutely brutal for the industry's titans. Las Vegas Sands' Adelson conservatively lost $2.5 billion this year as the company's stock dropped 24%. His loss is probably actually larger than $2.5 billion because he added dramatically to his position in the first quarter of the year.

Some nouveau-rich CEOs also took big hits, with GoPro founder Woodman being the best example. The breathtaking 70% decline in shares of the maker of extreme sports cameras smacked the 40-year-old CEO with a loss of his shares to the tune of $1.8 billion. It could have been a little worse — but the CEO sold 1.4% of his shares during the year to take his total position down to 39.8 million shares.

So stop feeling sorry for yourself — and the fact you probably didn't make much money this year. It could have been much, much worse.

(source: cnbc)