A year ago, the fortunes of David, Gail and Leonard Asper were valued at $833 million, good enough for 64th position, but down from $1.1 billion and 41st place the year before. As of the magazine's cut-off date of Nov. 3, their net worth had fallen nearly 60 per cent more to $341 million, more than $120 million below the "poorest" member of this year's Rich 100, Montreal's Molson family, whose beer-soaked empire was valued at $464 million.

"If they can turn the stock around, they could easily get back on the list," she said. "I think they'll be fine though, $341 million is nothing to sneeze at."

"That ranking has always amused me. They have no idea what we have outside of Canwest. That's the beauty of having private business interests. It's a complete shot in the dark. You've got to remember there's quite a bit that's not public," he said.