Musk and Bezos Cry... Buffett Alone Grows Wealth, Returns to Top 5 Richest

Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
[Photo by AP News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] While the US New York stock market is showing a downward trend centered on tech stocks, Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and known as the "Oracle of Omaha," has increased his assets and returned to the top 5 ranks of global billionaires, Bloomberg reported on the 7th (local time).

According to the report, Buffett's assets were estimated at $116.7 billion (approximately 144.2 trillion KRW) as of that day, marking a 7.2% increase compared to the beginning of the year. Buffett ranked 5th, following Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and the world's richest person, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, and Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (MS).

Bloomberg stated, "This is the first time in the past year that 91-year-old Buffett has risen this high on the list of the world's top 500 billionaires," adding, "In October last year, his ranking had dropped to 11th."

Among the billionaires ranked in the top 10 of Bloomberg's billionaire index, only Buffett and Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group and an Indian infrastructure tycoon ranked in the top 10, saw their assets increase compared to the beginning of the year. Eight other billionaires, including CEO Musk, experienced a decrease in assets due to the decline in stock prices.

Bloomberg analyzed that the billionaire rankings are being adjusted as stock prices fall, especially in tech stocks. In fact, the Nasdaq index on the US New York stock market entered a bear market that day. Since the beginning of this year, following the tech sector correction, the index has plummeted nearly 18% so far.

Berkshire Hathaway announced that it had additionally purchased nearly 30 million shares of Occidental Petroleum, one of the largest shale companies in the US, on that day. Bloomberg noted that Berkshire Hathaway currently holds cash liquidity amounting to $146.7 billion and estimated that the Occidental purchase amount is about $1.6 billion. By purchasing a large amount of this company's stock before the international oil price surge, Berkshire Hathaway is expected to earn greater profits.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.