USA TODAY International Edition
10 people profit a tidy $ 8.9B from Trump rally
Warren Buffett may have voted for Hillary Clinton with his heart. But his wallet is profiting from Donald Trump’s victory.
Buffett is one of 10 investors and executives, along with former CEO of Wells Fargo John Stumpf, and Laurene Jobs, a large owner of Apple stock and widow of Steve Jobs, who collectively hauled in $ 8.9 billion since the election on shares they own, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S& P Global Market Intelligence. These are the largest individual holders of stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 1500 that generated the most wealth since the Nov. 8 election, putting them in a good position to capture much of the gains.
Such gains are a reminder of the value of being an investor even when the masses sit out. The stock market has generated roughly $ 1.5 trillion in paper wealth since the election, but nearly half of Americans likely missed out. That’s because as of last year, only 52% of Americans were invested in the market, according to a Gallup poll.
“Many investors were not on board the train for the ride,” Scott Wren, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, says in a note to clients. “Instead, they stood at the station without ever buying a ticket.”
There’s some irony in all this. Warren Buffett has been one of the largest skeptics of Trump, with the two men even getting into a war of words over Buffett’s tax- paying history. Even so, Buffett is by far the biggest financial winner since the election. The value of his 18% stake in the di- versified company has risen $ 6.7 billion since the election, vastly more than any of the other winners. Buffett’s exposure to the financial industry has fueled much of the gains, since the sector has been the biggest winner from Trump’s victory. Investors are hopeful higher interest rates and lighter regulations could boost financials’ profits. Berkshire’s $ 37 billion market value gain has been impressive, but several banks have performed even better. JPMorgan Chase has been the largest single best- performing bank stock since the election, adding nearly $ 59 billion in market value. The biggest individual winner from that increase has been James Crown, a member of the board of directors who owns more than 9 million shares. The value of that stake has gained $ 158 million. Crown owns even more shares than CEO Jamie Dimon, who also profited with his 6.7 million shares.
But Wells Fargo’s Stumpf might be the luckiest banker. Despite a difficult year, resigning from the bank amid public outcry over an alleged scam of creating fake accounts, Stumpf at least got a happy November surprise. The value of his stock in the company has risen by $ 22 million.
It’s not just the money men making bank. Laurene Jobs’ 128.3 million shares of Walt Disney, resulting from her husband’s sale of the Pixar movie studio to Disney in 2006, have gained $ 1.8 billion in value since the election. And there have been more big individual winners beyond those at companies with the biggest increases in market value. The value of Microsoft has risen $ 18.5 billion, generating a $ 437 million gain for co- founder Bill Gates.
Not sure if the stock market gains make these people happier about the election, but it certainly makes them richer.