Trump victory lifts Buffett back to world's 2nd-richest

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett applauds at an election rally. Photo / AP

Warren Buffett is once again the second-richest person on the planet, and he has President-elect Donald Trump to thank.

Buffett added US$5.8 billion to his fortune this week, leading gains for the world's wealthiest as he leaped over Spain's Amancio Ortega and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos to reclaim the No. 2 spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Buffett, who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton in the election and ferried voters to the polls in his Nebraska hometown, benefited as shares in Wells Fargo & Co soared 13 per cent in the two days after the November 8 election on speculation that a Republican administration would bring less regulation and sideline some of the industry's sharpest critics.

His Berkshire Hathaway holds a 10 per cent stake in the San Francisco-based lender.

The world's richest added US$15 billion to their fortunes this week at the close of trading on Thursday in New York, according to the Bloomberg index.

Mexico's wealthiest person, Carlos Slim, saw his fortune sink $5.4 billion as the peso fell to a record 20.78 per dollar. Ortega, founder of clothing retailer Zara, lost $2.5 billion and fell to the No. 3 spot after Buffett.

A slump in technology stocks amid concern that Trump's policies would harm international trade shaved almost $16 billion from the fortunes of the 56 richest moguls in that industry in the two days following the election.

Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg lost $1.6 billion of net worth while Amazon CEO Bezos was down by $3.9 billion.

Billionaire donors to the two campaigns overwhelmingly favored Clinton, with 17 members of the Bloomberg index giving $21.1 million to her campaign and its supporting political action committees through September 20, and 12 in the group donating $1.02 million to Trump's election effort.