Warren Buffett’s transfer final yr to promote shares and hoard some $300 billion in money is wanting prescient — as he’s solely mogul among the many world’s richest whose internet price has risen this yr regardless of a market selloff triggered by President Trump’s tariffs.
In a historic two-day rout final week, the world’s 500 wealthiest people have collectively misplaced greater than half a trillion {dollars}, marking the steepest loss ever recorded on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Among the many 10 richest folks on the planet, Buffett is alone has seen his internet price rise since Jan. 1. The Berkshire Hathaway boss has seen his wealth enhance by $12.7 billion throughout that interval.
Buffett’s technique insulated him and different Berkshire shareholders from the turmoil that has engulfed the markets within the wake of Trump’s shock tariff announcement.
From the opening bell on Thursday to Friday’s shut, the S&P 500 sank 10.5%, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted 11.4%, triggering widespread losses among the many ultra-wealthy.
In complete, $536 billion was wiped from their mixed internet worths, with Friday alone accounting for a staggering $329 billion — the most important single-day loss because the peak of the COVID-19 market crash in 2020.
Practically 90% of the billionaires tracked by the index noticed their fortunes shrink on Friday, with a median decline of three.5%.
Topping the checklist of losses was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose internet price plunged $31 billion as Tesla shares tumbled over 10% on Friday. The most recent hit brings Musk’s 2025 losses to an eye-watering $130 billion.
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t far behind, watching $27 billion evaporate from his fortune as Meta inventory slumped practically 14% over the 2 days.
In a yr marked by hovering valuations and a frenzied inventory market, Buffett selected warning over motion.
The legendary investor spent 2024 pulling again on inventory purchases, paring down Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio and accumulating unprecedented ranges of money — signaling his deep skepticism in regards to the value tags hooked up to each public firms and personal companies.
Berkshire Hathaway ended the yr with an unlimited stash of money and cash-equivalent property — totaling $334 billion earlier than liabilities.
After subtracting $12.8 billion in payables for Treasury invoice purchases, the determine nonetheless stood at a staggering $321 billion.
That’s greater than the market capitalization of Coca-Cola, one in all Buffett’s most beloved long-term holdings.
That money pile now represents roughly one-third of Berkshire’s $1 trillion market worth, underscoring simply how reluctant Buffett was to purchase in a market he clearly considered as overheated.
As a substitute of aggressively investing, Buffett and his group spent the yr quietly offloading shares — a dramatic shift from their earlier posture. In 2024, Berkshire offered $143 billion price of shares, greater than triple the $41 billion offered in 2023, and over 4 occasions the $34 billion in 2022.
After accounting for simply $9 billion in inventory purchases — down from $16.5 billion in 2023 and $68 billion in 2022 — Berkshire’s internet inventory gross sales for the yr amounted to $134 billion.
Even longtime holdings weren’t spared.
Buffett trimmed positions in Apple and Financial institution of America — two of Berkshire’s largest investments.
All this strategic repositioning got here with an eye-popping tax invoice. Berkshire paid $26.8 billion in company earnings tax to the IRS in 2024, which Buffett mentioned was “the largest amount ever paid by any US company.”
