Who Has The Most Money In The World? Warren Buffett Made Billions Of Dollars In 2016, But He Still Can't Keep Up With Bill Gates

U.S. billionare Warren Buffett is known for making tons of money through his smart investment decisions and 2016 was no different. Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and the world’s second-richest man, made $12 billion 2016 in part because of a surge in bank stocks after Republican Donald Trump won the November presidential election, according to media reports.

Berkshire Hathaway shares soared by about 23 percent in 2016 because of its portofolio that includes 11 million shares of Goldman Sachs and over 100 million shares of U.S. Bancorp. Berkshire is also the largest shareholder of Wells Fargo.

"Of course, like most any institutional investing operation Berkshire made some minor tweaks to its holdings throughout the year. But the core of Berkshire’s portfolio did not change, is not likely to change, and is the cornerstone of why the company has benefited so much from the post-election rally," Yahoo Finance concluded in an analysis published Monday.

Buffett endorsed Hillary Clinton and campaigned for her ahead of Election Day, but when asked about Trump at the 2016 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, he said he wasn't concerned about the Republican taking the White House.

“Government, you know, is a very big factor in our business and in all businesses,” Buffett said in April. “I mean, there’s the very broad policies that affect practically everybody. And sometimes there can be some pretty specific policies. But I will predict that if either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is elected president — and one of them is very likely to be — I think Berkshire will continue to do fine.”

While it's true that Buffett isn't likely to become a poor man anytime soon, he still hasn't been able to make it to the top of the global billionaires list. That honor falls to Bill Gates, who has a net worth of $75 billion even after losing $4 billion in 2015, Forbes reported.

The U.S. is home to the world's largest population of rich people, with 540 billionaires. Mainland China has 251 billionaires, Germany counts 120 and Russia has 77.

Buffett, however, doesn't seem too concerned about coming in second to Gates. He is, after all, still worth about $73 billion.

“Investors who diversify widely and simply sit tight with their holdings are certain to prosper: In America, gains from winning investments have always far more than offset the losses from clunkers,” Buffett wrote in his most recent letter to shareholders.