Buffett invests $3.7B in Exxon Billionaire investor Warren Buffett saw his net worth soar by an eye-popping $37 million a day this year, according to a survey out Wednesday.
The Berkshire Hathaway boss benefitted from a bull market that saw shares of his conglomerate jump by more than 25 percent in 2013, boosting his net worth by $12.7 billion to $59.1 billion, according to the survey by Wealth-X. That works out to a $37 million-a-day bump in Buffett’s wealth — or an eye-popping $1.5 million an hour. While Buffet had an outstanding year, the jump in his net worth only got him to second place on the list of the world’s Top 10 richest people.
Microsoft founder and Buffett bridge partner Bill Gates retained the title of world’s wealthiest person with a total net worth of $72.6 billion, up from $61.1 billion last year. Buffett was followed by casino magnet Sheldon Adelson, who’s worth an estimated $35.3 billion this year.
Silicon Valley took the next three slots with Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos’ $34.4 billion net worth ranking fourth, followed by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who are now worth $30 billion and $29.9 billion respectively. New York’s own billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has been agitating for change in Apple this year, ranked 8th with a net worth of $22.1 billion. His net worth is up 7.2 billion compared to 2012, according to Wealth-X. Collectively, the top 10 billionaires saw gains of $101.8 billion in 2013, which averages out to an eye-popping $10.2 billion each.
Their combined wealth totals a whopping $347 billion, up from $245 billion last year. Portugal’s gross domestic product was just $212 billion last year. New York City was ranked by Wealth-X as the city with the greatest population of ultra high-net worth (UHNW) people, or those with at least $30 million in assets.
In a data point that would make outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg proud, New York City’s UHNW population grew this year by 5.6 percent to 8,025, up from 7,580 last year, Wealth-X said. But New York lost out to California when it came to states with the highest number of wealthy people.
Compared to the Empire State’s 8,945 UHNW individuals, sunny California boasts a whopping 12,560 folks with at least $30 million to their name, the report said. Americans dominated the Top 10 list, but two foreigners made it in, including Masayoshi Son, head of Japan’s Softbank Mobile, which recently bought Sprint Corp. Son was ranked the 10th richest man by Wealth-X with a net worth of $19.1 billion.
Credits: NY Post, Kaja Whitehouse