When it comes to top names followed by investors, Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK)(NYSE:BRK) CEO Warren Buffett and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are among the figures who stand out. The two share several stocks in their investment portfolios and also beat the S&P 500 most years.
Pelosi Vs. Buffett Vs. S&P 500
Buffett has led Berkshire Hathaway as CEO for decades and has a history of beating the S&P 500, which is tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY).
When it comes to beating the S&P 500, Buffett may have nothing on the investment portfolio of Pelosi, who discloses trades made by her venture capitalist husband Paul Pelosi.
A viral tweet shared by @ianonpatriot on X shows the reported returns of Pelosi, Buffett and the S&P 500 from the second quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2024. The tweet has over five million impressions and has drawn numerous negative comments about the need to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
Here are the returns of Pelosi, Buffett and the S&P 500 over the time period of the second quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2024, according to the tweet:
- Pelosi: +941.1%
- Buffett: +452.2%
- S&P 500: +435.0%
“Nancy Pelosi absolutely DESTROYED Warren Buffett in the stock market since 2012. This is insanity,” the tweet says.
It is unknown what specific dates were used for the chart, but manual calculations show a gain of 308.0% for the S&P 500 and +467.2% for Berkshire Hathaway when tracked from the starting date of the second quarter in 2012 (April 1, 2012) through the end of the third quarter of 2024 (Sept. 30, 2024).
Tracking Pelosi’s annual returns is tougher to do, given that trading disclosures don’t share specific amounts of shares bought, and her current options held make it tougher to estimate her annual returns.
Annual reports from UnusualWhales regularly show Pelosi as one of the top-performing members of Congress each year. In 2024, Pelosi was estimated to have been up 70.9% versus a 24.9% gain for the SPY based on data from UnusualWhales.
Did You Know?
- Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold With Our Easy-to-Use Tool
2025 And Beyond
The tweet ends in the third quarter of 2024, leaving out the entire 2025 year for Pelosi, Buffett and the S& 500.
In 2025, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is up 16.4%, while Berkshire Hathaway shares are up 11.0%. That would slightly change the outperformance of Buffett.
More importantly, this could mean that Buffett’s final year leading Berkshire Hathaway may result in his underperforming the S&P 500. Berkshire Hathaway has outperformed the S&P 500 in 11 of the last 20 years, including three of the last four years.
Tracking Pelosi’s 2025 performance is tougher since she has not disclosed many trades during the year.
Pelosi disclosed exercising 200 call options of Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares on June 20. Broadcom shares reached a high of $253.52 on that day and now trade at $337.32, representing a 33% gain.
The congresswoman also disclosed buying options in Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Tempus AI (NASDAQ:TEM) and Vistra Corp (NYSE:VST).
Here’s a look at how those stocks have performed from the day options were purchased to now.
- AMZN: Jan. 14 $221.82, Now $229.01
- GOOGL: Jan. 14 $191.98, Now $304.89
- NVDA: Jan. 14 $136.38, Now $180.63
- TEM: Jan. 14 $34.62, Now $64.01
- VST: Jan. 14 $175.00, Now $164.82
Four of the five stocks are up since the options were purchase, including three with significant gains. With the purchases being options, the gains could be even higher.
The bad news for investors who have followed Buffett and Pelosi for potential trading ideas is that their tracking may come to an end. Buffett is stepping down as Berkshire CEO at the end of 2025. Pelosi will not seek re-election in 2026 and will be leaving Congress in 2027.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via DALL-E.
