Here's How Much Money Buffett's Portfolio Has Lost in 3 Weeks

When it comes to buy-and-hold investing, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) CEO Warren Buffett is king. Over the course of almost seven decades, Buffett has built up a net worth of around $80 billion, and helped to create in excess of $400 billion in value for shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway stock. And he's done this entirely by researching a handful of sectors, picking out businesses with perceived competitive advantages, and, most important, hanging on for the long haul.

But the thing about buy-and-hold investing is that Buffett's resolve is regularly tested. That's because the benchmark S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has undergone a correction – officially, a non-rounded decline of at least 10% from a recent high – an average of every 1.85 years since the beginning of 1950. Buffett has invested through the likes of the Black Monday decline in October 1987, the dot-com bubble, the Great Recession, and now coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Though Buffett's resolve results in big-time gains over the long run, there's substantial short-term pain to be felt during bear markets.

Since the S&P 500 hit its all-time closing high on Feb. 19, 2020, through what's now being referred to as "Black Thursday" on March 12, 2020, the benchmark index is off almost 27% in a mere 16 trading sessions. It's the quickest we've ever seen a bear market take shape, and it's cost the Oracle of Omaha quite a bit of money.

Source Fool.com