#42 – John Shea

Net Worth: $634 million -35%

Last Year: $975 million

Age: 82

Residence: Pasadena

Source of Wealth: Homebuilding, real estate

The Money:

Shea, whose wealth is largely tied to his privately held homebuilding business, hit hard for second year in a row. Publicly held homebuilders lost 20 percent to 50 percent of value last year. Shea also owns 10-million-square foot portfolio of commercial real estate, another market that collapsed.

The Buzz:

Chairman of J.F. Shea Co., whose eight businesses range from homebuilding to resorts to concrete. Has 50 percent interest in family company founded in 1881. Shea and another developer building Legacy Park, an 820-acre, master-planned community on the site of former Marine base in Tustin. Project will include 2,105 homes and nearly 7 million square feet of commercial space. Preliminary construction began last year, but residential portion halted until housing market improves. In nod to energy- and budget-conscious buyers, one of company? new Arizona projects offers solar power as standard feature. Company? construction unit worked on such American icons as Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam.