President Donald Trump's tariff hike sent shockwaves through global markets. While billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg saw their fortunes plummet, Warren Buffett remained resilient and in the green despite the chaos.
What Happened: On April 2, President Trump announced an aggressive new round of tariffs on goods imported from over 100 countries, including a 54% tariff on Chinese goods and 20% on EU imports.
The announcement sent global markets into a tailspin, resulting in a massive one-day loss for some of the world's wealthiest individuals, particularly in the tech industry.
Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX, saw his net worth drop by $19.9 billion, bringing his year-to-date losses to a staggering $130 billion, bringing him down to $302 billion.
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Amazon.com, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Jeff Bezos and Meta Platforms, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:META) Mark Zuckerberg also faced significant setbacks, with Bezos losing $7.59 billion and Zuckerberg's wealth dropping by $9.44 billion.
Year-to-date, Bezos has lost $45.2 billion, while Zuckerberg is down $28.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Meanwhile, luxury goods mogul Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis (OTC:LVMHF), saw his net worth fall by $5.23 billion as shares in his conglomerate tumbled in Paris, exacerbating his year-to-date losses.
Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates have also seen major losses, with each shedding tens of billions in wealth.
However, Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha," stood out for weathering the storm. Buffett’s net worth dropped by $10.7 billion, but his year-to-date change remained in the green, with a $12.7 billion gain.
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Why It's Important: The 92-year-old billionaire's conservative approach to investing has allowed him to remain relatively unscathed compared to other tech giants.
In 2024, Berkshire Hathaway offloaded a staggering $134 billion worth of stocks, while barely deploying any of the proceeds.
The company halted buybacks entirely in the second half of the year, allowing its cash pile to swell to a record-breaking $334 billion by year-end. At the time, critics questioned Buffett's caution, especially as the S&P 500 notched back-to-back years of 20%+ gains.
Buffett also trimmed Berkshire's massive Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stake from 49% to just 23% of the portfolio and also pared down holdings in Bank of America -- a move that came just weeks before markets began to unravel.
Though Buffett has sharply criticized tariffs -- once calling them "an act of war" and likening them to a hidden tax on consumers -- he remains steadfastly optimistic about the future of American business.
Reaffirming his long-term confidence, he previously stated, "A majority of any money I manage will always be in the United States."
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