Warren Buffett has been a fixture at the top of the world\u2019s wealth rankings for decades, but in recent years he\u2019s slipped down the list as tech fortunes soared and his hot hand cooled.<\/p>\n
Now, at 90, his net worth has blown past $100 billion.<\/p>\n
The Berkshire Hathaway Inc chairman\u2019s wealth jumped on Wednesday to $100.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That makes Buffett the sixth member of the $100 billion club, a group including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and his friend Bill Gates.<\/p>\n
The clan\u2019s combined wealth has grown rapidly, fueled by government stimulus, central-bank policy and the surging equity market.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden\u2019s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill cleared its final congressional hurdle as the House voted to approve the legislation, adding to the $3 trillion or so in stimulus Washington has already disbursed in the past year.<\/p>\n
Berkshire, the source of virtually all of Buffett\u2019s wealth, has had a good start to 2021. The firm\u2019s A shares are up 15% this year, outpacing the 3.8% gain of the S&P 500 Index. That\u2019s been helped by Buffett\u2019s recent push to spend record amounts buying back<\/p>\n
Berkshire\u2019s own stock, a notable shift for an investor who previously preferred to use the $138 billion cash pile to buy other businesses or common shares.
\nShare Buybacks<\/p>\n
Buffett\u2019s been struggling in recent years to find sizable deals to spark Berkshire\u2019s growth, partially due to the sheer size of the conglomerate. That\u2019s caused the shares to underperform the S&P 500 over the past five years.<\/p>\n
But in 2020, Buffett spent a record $24.7 billion on buybacks and filings indicate he\u2019s already bought at least $4.2 billion worth of stock through mid-February.<\/p>\n
Surpassing $100 billion is all the more notable considering how much the Omaha billionaire has given away. A co-founder of the Giving Pledge, a campaign to encourage billionaire philanthropy, Buffett has donated more than $37 billion in Berkshire stock since 2006.<\/p>\n
Without those gifts, which have cut his holdings of Berkshire Class A shares nearly in half, he\u2019d be worth more than $192 billion.<\/p>\n
The staggering amount of wealth accumulated by the ultra-wealthy – $1.8 trillion by the world\u2019s 500 richest in 2020 alone – highlights the K-shaped recovery that\u2019s taking place as the US emerges from the pandemic.<\/p>\n
While millions of disproportionately poor, working-class and minority people remain unemployed, the rich have seen incomes and net worth levels rise thanks to a buoyant stock market and rising home prices.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, more than 8 million Americans – including many children – fell into poverty in the second half of last year, according to an analysis by University of Chicago economist Bruce Meyer, University of Notre Dame\u2019s James Sullivan and Zhejiang University\u2019s Jeehoon Han.<\/p>\n
Buffett added $1.9 billion to his fortune on Wednesday as Berkshire Class A shares hit a record high, helping lead a second day of gains for the S&P 500.<\/p>\n