The legendary American investor was worth $ 100 billion on Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. This puts him in the company of just five other men above the threshold. And he is now the sixth richest person in the world who is just behind Facebook (FB) Mark Zuckerberg, CEO.
The 90-year-old Buffett added nearly $ 13 billion to his net worth this year as shares in his industrial and insurance conglomerate rose. Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) is up nearly 15% in 2021, giving the company a market capitalization of more than $ 600 billion.
Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are known for investing primarily in slow-growing, ‘value’ equities, many of which have performed very well this year as markets continue to recover from the collapse caused a year ago. He recently revealed that Berkshire has bought the shares in Dow components Chevron and Verizon, indicating a new interest in Big Oil, telecommunications and media.
Chevron (CVX) rises by 31% as crude prices restore the land they lost during the early months of the pandemic. Verizon (VZ) has not performed nearly as well – the share is down almost 3% this year – but it is still higher than the lows it reached in March 2020.
While Buffett has broken the $ 100 billion mark, he is still a long way behind the world’s richest person, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos, which Bloomberg estimates is worth $ 180 billion. Bezos trades the title with Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who is now worth $ 173 billion as shares in his electric car maker, is rising from recent losses.
Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates is number 3 on the list with $ 138 billion, while Bernard Arnault, the chairman of the luxury goods group LVMH (LVMHF), ranks No. 4 with $ 122 billion. Arnault is the richest non-American on the list. Zuckerberg is number 5 with a net worth of $ 101 billion.
Buffett has donated billions of dollars to philanthropic causes, promising in 2006 to give away almost all of his fortune to charity.
– Paul R. La Monica contributed to this report.