I heard on a news programme (Russia Today) that Oleg Deripaska has debts that are greater than his total assets. So, in effect he's poorer than me. However he still counts as a billionaire and has access to limitless credit. Nobody dare start calling in the IOUs as in probability they won't get all their money back, so they keep throwing money at him to stop him going under. A sort of Micawberist approach I suppose. We may be in the gutter but we're looking up at the Canary Wharf Tower.
I've never been able to figure out how the global economy "works". Now I'm beginning to wonder if anybody has really got a handle on it.