In terms of wealth, Warren Buffett has surpassed Jeff Bezos and poses a challenge to Bill Gates’ position as the second-richest American, after Elon Musk

He was followed by Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon, who is thought to be worth $107 billion.With an estimated net worth of $110 billion, Gates, a longtime friend of Buffett and co-founder of Microsoft, is within reach. With an estimated $138 billion wealth, even Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Twitter, isn’t far behind.At the beginning of this year, Buffett was almost $170 billion behind Musk, over $90 billion behind Bezos, and over $30 billion behind Gates. Because Berkshire stock, which represents nearly 99% of Buffett’s net wealth, has outperformed the market, he has surpassed Bezos and narrowed the gap on Gates and Musk.This year, Amazon stock has lost half its value, Microsoft stock has dropped close to 30%, and Tesla has dropped close to 70%. As a result, Buffett’s fortune would have increased this year if he hadn’t donated roughly $5 billion of his Berkshire shares to charitable organisations. In contrast, Berkshire’s stock price has increased by around 2%, indicating that.
 Source : CNBC Buffett is ranked fifth on Bloomberg’s wealthy list despite having a smaller fortune. With an estimated $165 billion net worth, French luxury magnate Bernard Arnault is ranked first, and Indian businessman Gautam Adani is ranked third with an estimated $121 billion. Given their respective nationalities, Musk will be the only American who is wealthier than Gates if Buffett knocks him off the No. 4 slot.In the face of unprecedented inflation, skyrocketing interest rates, and an impending recession, investors have moved this year from growth equities like Microsoft, Tesla, and Amazon to defensive names like Berkshire.Geico and See’s Candies are just a couple of the several firms owned by Buffett’s conglomerate. It also holds multibillion dollar shares in Coca-Cola and Kraft Heinz. Investors consequently see it as highly diversified and well placed to weather an economic downturn.Share your thoughts with us in the comments.