About 114 billion dollars in market value has been erased among the 25 worst- performing internet stocks, which are down a staggering 95.7 per cent on average from their highs this year, after their initial public offerings (IPO), the paper said quoting a leading market trackers Birinyl Associates, Westport (Connecticut).

It cites some examples: the founder of Interworld Corp, Michael Donahue became a member of the internet centimillionaire club as he saw his stake rise to 448 million dollars after the IPO stock offering in August 1999.

He then did what many red-blooded Americans would have done: he splurged, big time. He bought a 9.6 million dollar second home in palm beach, Florida, a polo team for 100,000 dollars and shared the rental of a hawker sidley private jet.

Today, Donahue is a member of another club-call it the 90 per cent club-of executives whose companies stock price has fallen that much or more from their peak.

The value of his interworld stake has plunged to 12.6 million dollars, as the share price has fallen 96.8 per cent to 2.94 dollars from a peak of 93.50 dollars on December 31.

He was asked to repay part of a 14 million dollars loan he took out with his interworld stock as collateral. To help satisfy his lenders, he has put his palm beach house on the market for 13 million dollars.

He has plenty of fellow sufferers, the journal notes.

More than 60 companies-most of them start-ups that went public at the height of the internet frenzy-have seen their stock nosedive 90 per cent or more.

Like many humpty dumptys, said the paper, the executives of those companies have had a truly great fall, with the combined losses of the largest shareholder of each company adding up to about 14 billion dollars.

Jeff Dachis, co-founder and Chief executive of Razorfish Inc., had stock and options worth 281 million dollars at their peak.

Candice Carpenter, founder of a website for women, had a stake once of over 100 million dollars. It is now worth 890,000.

James Cramer, who founded thestreet.com, once had holdings worth 235 mllion dollars. Now, with the stock down 95 per cent, they are worth 10.5 million dollars.

However, says the journal, most Americans can only wish that they were so unlucky. Not one of these internet entrepreneurs is headed for the poor house. But there is more than a little gloating over their diminished fortunes.