Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Breaks $1 Trillion: Poll Suggests Big Pharma, Not Tech, Is Next Contender

Conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRK BRK became the 10^th public company to surpass the $1 trillion market capitalization milestone on Wednesday, further reshaping the dynamic leaderboard of the most valuable company in the world.

What Happened: Under the long-time leadership of Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway has reached the $1 trillion mark, with shares up 28% year-to-date in 2024.

The stock is one of eight companies to currently be valued at $1 trillion or more. Berkshire Hathaway is also the first U.S. based non-technology company to pass the milestone.

The current list of $1 trillion valued public companies is:

• Apple: $3.47 trillion
• Nvidia: $3.12 trillion
• Microsoft: $3.06 trillion
• Alphabet: $2.02 trillion
• Amazon.com: $1.80 trillion
• Saudi Aramco: $1.79 trillion
• Meta Platforms: $1.30 trillion
• Berkshire Hathaway: $1.03 trillion

Previous members of the club include Petro China and Tesla Inc TSLA.

"As Berkshire Hathaway approaches a $1 trillion market cap, which company will be the next to reach this milestone?" Benzinga asked earlier this week.

Here are the results and the market capitalizations at the time of the poll:

• Eli Lilly and Company LLY: 43%
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing TSM: 25%
• Tesla: 19%
• Broadcom Inc AVGO: 11%
• Walmart Inc WMT: 3%

At the time of writing, Taiwan Semiconductor and Eli Lilly are closest to hitting the milestone, with both companies worth over $800 billion. Eli Lilly won the poll with a near majority of the five selections. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ranked second with a quarter of the vote.

Broadcom, which has the next highest market capitalization at $743 billion, ranked fourth. Tesla ranked third, despite having a lower market capitalization of $665 billion. Walmart, which has a market capitalization of $610 billion, finished fifth in the poll.

Did You Know?

• Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold Ahead Of The 2024 Election With Our Easy-to-Use Tool

Why It's Important: While it seems like Nvidia has been one of the most valuable companies in the world for some time, the company passed the $1 trillion market cap milestone just 15 months ago, back in May 2023, and briefly became the most valuable company in the world earlier this year.

Meta Platforms, which was a past member of the $1 trillion market capitalization before falling out, re-joined the club earlier this year.

Last May, when Nvidia joined the club, Benzinga asked its social media followers which stock would be next to join or re-join the $1 trillion market capitalization club.

Tesla was the overwhelming favorite on X at 53.8% of the vote. Ranking second was Taiwan Semiconductor. While neither of those companies has hit the $1 trillion market cap level since then, the third and fourth place finishers in Meta at 15% and Berkshire at 12.9% are now both members.

This just goes to show that the market can be unpredictable.

Berkshire Hathaway has posted impressive gains over the years under Buffett's leadership, and the company’s ownership of key brands alongside a stock portfolio that includes Apple and other blue chip stocks.

That could be why it's no surprise that Benzinga readers recently selected Buffett as the person they would trust most with investing their life savings in a poll. Buffett was selected with an overwhelming 58% of the vote over the likes of Ray Dalio, Cathie Wood, Elon Musk, Bill Ackman, Mark Cuban and Jamie Dimon.

Berkshire Hathaway shares are up 31% in the past year and up 129% over the last five years.

Read Next:

• Benzinga’s ‘Stock Whisper’ Index: 5 Stocks Investors Secretly Monitor But Don’t Talk About Yet

The study was conducted by Benzinga on Aug. 26 through Aug. 27, 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 101 adults.

Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.