Updated: 6:15 p.m. ET
(Bloomberg) – Warren Buffett is once again the second-richest person on the planet, and he has President-elect Donald Trump to thank.
Buffett added $6.2 billion to his fortune this week, leading gains for the world's wealthiest as he leapt over Spain's Amancio Ortega and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos to reclaim the No. 2 spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
|Less regulation speculated
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 percent in the two days after the Nov. 8 election on speculation that a Republican administration would bring less regulation and sideline some of the industry's sharpest critics. His Berkshire Hathaway Inc. holds a 10 percent stake in the San Francisco-based lender.
The world's richest people lost $6 billion this week, according to the Bloomberg index.
Mexico's wealthiest person, Carlos Slim, saw his fortune sink $5.8 billion as the peso fell to a record 20.78 per dollar. Ortega, founder of clothing retailer Zara, lost $2.7 billion and fell to the No. 3 spot after Buffett.
|Slump in tech stocks
A slump in technology stocks amid concern that Trump's policies would harm international trade shaved almost $5.2 billion from the fortunes of the 56 richest moguls in that industry in the two days following the election.
Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg lost $785 million this week while Amazon Inc. CEO Bezos was down by $1.3 billion in the same period.
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 Sept. 20, and 12 in the group donating $1.02 million to Trump's election effort.
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