Musk vs. Buffett: Which Investor Do Benzinga Readers Trust To Turn $1,000 Into $100,000 Faster?

A new Benzinga poll pitted Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, and other renowned investors against each other, asking readers to decide who they would trust to turn $1,000 into $100,000 the fastest based on their past and current investment track records.

What Happened: Elon Musk has helped transform SpaceX and Tesla Inc TSLA into two of the most valuable companies in the world, which might explain why investors continue to believe in his companies and future growth initiatives.

This might also explain why Musk won a recent Benzinga reader poll.

"If you gave them $1,000, who could turn it into $100,000 the fastest?" Benzinga asked.

Here were the results:

• Elon Musk: 42%
• Warren Buffett: 25%
• Mark Cuban: 19%
• Peter Thiel: 15%

The poll found that Musk was the pick for investors to give $1,000 to and turn it into $100,000 the quickest. Buffett ranked a distant second at 25% of the vote.

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Why It's Important: The results come as Tesla is one of the top-performing stocks of the last five years, up 1,520.7%. The stock is also up 1,459.9% over the previous 10 years.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK BRK stock has increased by 122% over the last five years and 233.9% over the last 10 years. While Berkshire Hathaway stock has trailed Tesla’s performance in recent years, the company and Buffett have a long history of beating the S&P 500.

Musk has also proven successful with his SpaceX company, valued at a reported $210 billion earlier this year.

Being the world's richest person likely strengthens Musk's appeal as the investor people would trust to generate the highest returns on their money.

Of course, Musk did pay $44 billion for Twitter, now known as X, and most valuation metrics, like Fidelity's for a mutual fund, point to a lower valuation, like $9.4 billion.

Thiel has been successful with connections to PayPal, Palantir and Founders Fund and was also the first outside investor for Facebook.

Cuban has been successful selling businesses, investing in businesses on Shark Tank, buying the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and recently selling a stake for a nice return on investment.

The poll contrasts with one conducted in August, where investors were asked who they would trust with their life savings. In that survey, Buffett secured 58% of the vote, while Musk and Cuban tied for second place, each receiving 11%.

The results of the two polls may show that investors are more likely to invest a smaller amount in Musk as a high-risk/high-return play, but if it comes to investing their life savings, they prefer the safety and long-running history of market-beating returns from Buffett.

The study was conducted by Benzinga from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, 2024, and included the responses of a diverse population of adults 18 or older. Opting into the survey was completely voluntary, with no incentives offered to potential respondents. The study reflects results from 130 adults.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.