Market Down, Warren Buffett's Portfolio Still Up And Kicking - Here's How

While global markets reel under President Trump's tariff shock, Warren Buffett emerges as a rare winner, defying the $8 trillion selloff. Warren Buffett is defying the chaos. As stock markets around the world plunged under the weight of renewed U.S. trade tensions, the legendary investor added $12.7 billion to his wealth in 2025—cementing his status as a rare outlier amid widespread billionaire losses.

Buffett’s net worth now stands at $155 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, even as a brutal six-day selloff erased nearly $8 trillion in global market value—$5 trillion of it vanishing in just two trading sessions.

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Billionaire Bloodbath
The meltdown was sparked by President Donald Trump ’s aggressive return to tariff policy. On April 2, Trump imposed a 54% tariff on Chinese imports and 20% tariffs on EU goods, triggering the biggest tariff hike in over a century. The announcement sent the Dow Jones plunging 2,231 points on Friday, its steepest one-day drop since March 2020, while the S&P 500 fell 6%, and the Nasdaq dropped 5.8%.
Friday alone saw $329 billion wiped off markets, and Thursday marked the fourth-worst day in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index’s 13-year history. Collectively, the world’s 500 richest people lost $208 billion in a single day.

Billionaires Bleed, Buffet Stands Tall
Top tech titans bore the brunt. Elon Musk lost $130 billion year-to-date, bringing his net worth down to $302 billion. Jeff Bezos shed $45.2 billion, Mark Zuckerberg lost $28.1 billion, and Bernard Arnault saw an $18.6 billion drop. Even Bill Gates, often a steady performer, saw his net worth dip $3.38 billion, landing him on par with Buffett. Yet, Buffett’s conservative approach has paid off. His firm, Berkshire Hathaway, increased its holdings in Japan’s top five trading houses—Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Itochu, and Marubeni—now owning between 8.5% and 9.8% of each. The strategy helped push Berkshire’s market cap past $1.14 trillion, surpassing Tesla.


Cash, Caution, and Conviction
Buffett’s resilience isn’t just about international exposure. In 2024, Berkshire offloaded $134 billion worth of stocks, halted stock buybacks, and allowed its cash reserves to balloon to $334 billion—moves once criticized, but now viewed as masterstrokes amid market carnage. Despite historically criticizing tariffs as a “hidden tax,” Buffett remains bullish on America.