Buffett's Birthday Magic: How $100 turns into a whopping 4,384,748% gain

If you had invested $10,000 in Berkshire 60 years ago, it would now be worth $438 million.

Right before his 94th birthday, investing guru Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway joined the ultra-exclusive $1 trillion market-cap club.

From 1965 to the end of 2023, Berkshire Hathaway's stock skyrocketed by 4,384,748 percent, easily outpacing the S&P 500's 31,323 percent gain.

If you had invested $100 in Berkshire 60 years ago, it would now be worth $4.38 million. In contrast, the same $100 invested in the S&P 500 would have grown to about $31,323 today.

On August 28, two days before the Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett's birthday, Berkshire Hathaway shares soared, pushing the company's market value past $1 trillion, making it the first non-tech US-based company to reach this level.

This achievement places Berkshire alongside tech giants Apple and Microsoft, both valued at over $3 trillion, and other trillion-dollar companies like Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta.

Among these companies, Berkshire Hathaway also took the longest to reach the $1 trillion mark, trading over 44 years before crossing the finish line. On the other hand, Meta clocked the record in just nine years since its debut on the bourses.

In his annual letter to investors, right before Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders’ meeting, Buffett wrote that skyrocketing outperform will not be seen anymore. “We have no possibility of eye-popping performance,” he said.

“Berkshire should do a bit better than the average American corporation and, more important, should also operate with materially less risk of permanent loss of capital. Anything beyond ‘slightly better,’ though, is wishful thinking,” added Buffett.

However, the company's stock has climbed 28 percent so far this year, outperforming the S&P 500's 18 percent gain. Berkshire Hathway's Class A shares, which are hovering around $700,000 each, are the most expensive stocks in the world, as the company has never undergone a stock split. This is to keep its focus away from attracting retail investors and speculators.

So like everyone’s favorite investment wizard, believe in the power of compounding!

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