Hong Kong's 40 richest men have lost over half their combined wealth as the global economic meltdown takes its toll on the capitalist haven's free-wheeling billionaires, but kingpin Li Ka-shing still holds the top spot.

Mr Li, dubbed Superman, saw almost half his wealth whittled away to leave him with €18.5 billion, Forbes Magazine says in its Hong Kong's 40 richest list for this year.

The head of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, Li, 80, who fled Japanese-occupied China in 1940, built a plastic flower business into a diversified global business empire.

The fortunes of Hong Kong's top 40 richest plunged from €140 billion a year ago to €64 billion according to Forbes.

The number of billionaires fell from over 40 to 19.

Number two on the list were the feuding Kwok brothers; Walter, Raymond and Thomas, who head up Sun Hung Kai Properties with a net worth of €7.8 billion. Their wealth was eroded by 55 per cent amid the financial crisis.

Eldest son Walter, the firm's longstanding helmsman, was last year cut off from the firm by his younger siblings in a major boardroom mutiny, with their octogenarian mother taking over the reins as non-executive chairman.

Meanwhile tycoon Lee Shau-kee, 81, known as Asia's Warren Buffett, saw some of his stock-picking prowess tarnished as Hong Kong's stock market plunged, with a €11 billion fall in wealth. Still third richest in Hong Kong, he's now worth €7 billion.

Macau casino kingpin Stanley Ho, 87, saw his pile of chips crumble 89 per cent to €782 million in a woeful year, sending his ranking plunging from 5th to 19th.

Mr Ho, a colourful self-made billionaire of mixed European-Chinese parentage, has been buffeted by a sharp gambling contraction in Macau, competition from glitzy Las-Vegas style mega-casinos and an ill-timed public offering.