Buffett Vs. Musk: Benzinga Readers See An Overwhelming Favorite To Go Down As The Best Investor In 100 Years

A recent Benzinga poll pitted Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, and other renowned investors against each other, asking readers to decide who will go down as the most legendary investor in 100 years, as both billionaires have helped grow companies into market capitalizations of $1 trillion.

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.

While Tesla may have reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion in less time than it took Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKBRK, Benzinga readers are more likely to recognize the steady returns of the conglomerate led by Warren Buffett in future years.

"In 100 years, who's going to be remembered as the most legendary investor?" Benzinga asked.

Here were the results:

• Warren Buffett: 61%
• Elon Musk: 30%
• Jeff Bezos: 6%
• Mark Cuban: 4%

The poll found that Buffett is most likely to be remembered as a legendary investor in the next 100 years by a two-to-one margin.

The results come as Tesla is one of the top-performing stocks of the last five years, up 1,218.9%. The stock is also up 1,337.8% over the previous 10 years.

Berkshire Hathaway stock has increased 121.1% over the last five years and 235.6% 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.

You may not be a billionaire like Warren Buffett, but you can uncover hidden gems in the stock market using our proprietary data and pattern recognition — check out five stocks flying under the radar that deserve your attention.

Why It's Important: While Buffett one the poll of who would be recognized as the most legendary investor, it was Musk who won a recent reader poll on who could turn $1,000 into $100,000 the fastest.

Musk won the poll with 42% of the vote, beating out Buffett (25%), Cuban (19%) and Peter Thiel (15%).

The latest poll falls in line with the notion that investors may be likely to trust Musk with a small amount of money to invest, but when it comes to long term success, Buffett takes the crown.

A poll conducted in August saw Benzinga readers pick Buffett as the investor they would trust with their life savings, winning with 58% of the vote, while Musk and Cuban tied for second place, each receiving 11%.

Are you buying when the CEOs of the Magnificent 7 are selling?

• Stay in the know with our Insider Trades page — see when leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jensen Huang are offloading their own shares.

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 117 adults.