Warren Buffett’s shares of his firm Berkshire Hathaway increased by 20% in the year 2016 in a trend that boosted Buffett’s personal fortune by $12.3 billion. This soar is more than any other billionaire in the United States. This makes the Oracle of Omaha the second richest person in the world with a net worth of $74.2 billion coming behind Bill Gates who is worth $84 billion as reported by FORBES.
Despite Buffet supporting the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign, he earned most of his gains this year after Hillary lost the election, Buffet gained $7.8 billion following Hillary’s loss. Berkshire Hathaway stock soared by 6% and as a result, Buffet’s fortune increased by $3.6 billion in only two days
Warren Buffet’s firm is the largest shareholder of Bank Wells Fargo. Unfortunately, Berkshire Hathaway faced a major challenge after Bank Wells Fargo was fined $185 million in September for opening millions of accounts without client’s permission. Members of Congress criticized the move by the bank as Federal officials opened investigations all this led CEO John Stumpf to leave his position. The unfortunate turn of events caused a 4% drop in Berkshire shares after Wells Fargo was fined by authorities.
The company made a comeback on the 4th of November when it unveiled its third-quarter results. Berkshire Hathaway reported quarterly revenues of $11.4 billion, which was an increase of 8% from the previous year revenues. The shares soared in four days gaining 3% from the 4th to 8th of November. This outpaced the market’s overall rise as the election day approached. The rest of the stock market along with Berkshire following Donald Trump’s victory in the election.
