Warren Buffett becomes world's 10th richest man after surpassing billionaire Zara founder

Buffett moved up one spot on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list after his estimated fortune rose by nearly $500 million on Thursday from the previous market close, the U.S. magazine reported.

Ortega, meanwhile, saw his wealth decline by $1.8 billion to $140.1 billion as Inditex stock fell 1.6%. Shares of the firm, which also owns other popular brands including Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius and Pull&Bear, have lost about 7.7% over the last month.

Buffett owns about 37.2% of Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A shares and less than 0.001% of its Class B shares, according to a company filing from July 2026.

The conglomerate, which holds major stakes in companies including Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Google and Bank of America, has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion.

Its Class A stock has risen by more than 80% over the last five years despite being slightly lower so far this year.

Buffett last month stepped down as Berkshire’s chairman after more than six decades leading the business, with his oldest son Howard taking over as non-executive ‌chairman, as reported by Reuters.

Buffett is still a director and the firm’s chairman emeritus. He has committed to giving away more than 99% of his fortune after his death and had already donated more than $72 billion, mostly in Berkshire shares.

Bloomberg earlier estimated that the shares Buffett had donated over two decades would have been worth about $230 billion as of May 2026. Had he retained those shares, his fortune could have approached $400 billion, which would have put him ahead of Elon Musk at the time.

Musk’s wealth has since climbed past $900 billion, keeping him at the top of the global billionaire rankings.