Image source: The Motley Fool
So far this year, legendary investor Warren Buffett has seen his wealth grow by an impressive $11.5bn. This is even more eyebrow-raising when you consider that most of his net worth is related to his holdings in Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B). Given the crazy market volatility over the past month, coming out wealthier is something worth talking about.
Wealth tied to equity holdings
Buffett owns around 38.4% of the Class A voting shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which equates to about a 15.1% overall economic interest in the company. As a result, the share price movements in the stock act to either increase or decrease his overall net worth.
Over the past year, the stock’s up 32%. So far in 2025, it’s risen by 17%. The business has bucked the broader trend of stocks falling due to the tariff uncertainty, particularly over the past month. One factor in this is the conservative setup the business had coming into the year. At the start of January, it had a cash position of $334.2bn. Some were a bit uncomfortable with this, given that they expected the management team to be using the money to invest in other stocks.
A safe pair of hands
In his annual letter to shareholders in Q1, Buffett admitted that he would “never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses.” Yet due to record valuations and a lack of attractive opportunities, it was hard to find good deals.
The stock market correction in April provided just such an opportunity. Even though we don’t know yet what Buffett bought (or indeed if he bought anything), Berkshire Hathaway stock outperformed. Part of this relates to investors anticipating Buffett snapping up some bargains. The other is that the stock was seen as a defensive play. In rotating out of higher-risk growth shares, Berkshire Hathaway was a safe haven for investors.
The imitation game
I’m trying to copy Buffett in a few ways. The long-term vision is for me to be able to tie in a good portion of my wealth to the stock market. Over time, this should help to boost my overall value, better than simply leaving money in cash or spending it on things that don’t have much utility.
Over the past month, I’ve also picked up some stocks that were cheap at the time but that I feel have quality characteristics. Buffett loves to find good value stocks, and I’ve copied him in this respect.
Even though the market still carries a lot of uncertainty, smart investors can take advantage of this. Berkshire’s latest quarterly update is due later this week. Like many, I’m going to read it carefully to spot other gems and pay attention to the outlook for the rest of the year.
