The rich lose money like us, only more so.

Take Charlie Ergen, CEO of Dish Network and its spinoff company, Douglas County-based EchoStar. At the two companies' 52-week highs, Ergen's stakes were worth more than $10.6 billion. Because of a sharp drop in both stocks, his shares are now worth about $4.0 billion, a decline of nearly $6.6 billion.

While Ergen's loss is stunning, it's also no surprise, because he and his family own roughly 50 percent of a multibillion-dollar company. Similarly, other wealthy Coloradans, all current or former members of Forbes' lists of the richest Americans, have seen their paper worth fall in the recent market carnage.

Take, as another example, Kenneth Tuchman of business-services company TeleTech, based in Douglas County.

Tuchman vaulted onto the Forbes list with a worth of $1.2 billion in March 2007 after a surge in the price of TeleTech shares. Tuchman's stake had declined to about $826 million in May, but the real damage came from the drop of roughly 70 percent over the next nine months. His stake is now worth about $245 million.

Karen Breen, TeleTech's treasurer, said Tuchman "takes a long- term investment view and views this as a temporary phenomenon. From his perspective, a test of a company is how you perform in good and bad economic times, and TeleTech, like in past recessions, has delivered strong performance," she said. "We've got a great balance sheet and a strong cash flow."

For perspective, the Dow Jones industrial average, which tracks 30 of the country's biggest companies, has fallen 32 percent since its 52-week high.

Executives in public companies who sell their stock often get criticized for failing to show faith in their company. The reason they often give is the need for diversification.

"Typically, you get rich making money on your own business, but you keep your wealth by diversifying your portfolio," said Gregory Anderson, CEO of Granderson Wealth Management. "I suspect these business people have diversified behind the scenes in ways we are not even aware.

"That said, I also suspect they remain fully confident in their business acumen, and they probably perceive these paper losses as a temporary setback. In that regard, they are probably less alarmed by these multimillion-dollar losses than the smaller guy who has thousands in diverse investment vehicles, with no feeling of control over how the investments might succeed."

Jeff Tjornehoj, a Denver-based research manager for Lipper, said diversification "is a coin with two sides. While it reduces the likelihood of a stunning loss, it also thins out the spectacular gains. These individuals won big by not diversifying and letting their bets ride. Had they not put their eggs in one basket many years ago, I think it's likely they would not have accumulated as much wealth."

One wealthy Coloradan who has diversified in recent years, once his billions were made, is Phil Anschutz.

The billionaire financier owned large stakes in Qwest, railroad Union Pacific and energy company Forest Oil. He placed most of that stock in "forward contracts" that give him money up front in exchange for a promise to deliver the shares a few years down the road. Anschutz has used the proceeds to increase his investments in private companies and projects, particularly in the sports and entertainment fields.

In September, Forbes estimated Anschutz's worth at $8 billion.

His one major remaining public company holding, however, got whacked badly this year. His stake in Regal Entertainment dropped by $800 million as the stock dropped by more than half since last May. Anschutz spokesman Jim Monaghan declined to comment on the matter.

Some of the wealthy on this list have taken advantage of the decreases. Liberty Media's John Malone bought 1 million shares of the Douglas County company's Liberty Interactive tracking stock in November at $2.93 a share. Less than five months earlier, it had traded at $17.58. A Liberty spokeswoman passed along a message to Malone, who did not return the call.

Coors spokeswoman Aimee Valdez and Dish Network spokeswoman Kathie Gonzalez declined to comment.

Finance Editor David Milstead can be reached at milstead@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2648.