What Stocks Are the World's Richest People Investing In?

Here are our freshest leads, hacks, and info to get you moving forward.

You Should Know

• Used car prices are plunging, more than any major category in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Prices are down 17% from their peak in Feb. 2022.

• The U.S. dollar is currently very strong relative to Asian and South/Central American currencies. Japan is 40% cheaper to Americans compared to 5 years ago. Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Costa Rica are particularly “on sale” for Americans.

• Memorial Day is right around the corner. Appliances typically see their biggest discounts around Memorial Day weekend, because retailers are clearing out inventory to make room for new models in the fall.

Peek at the Stock Portfolios of the World’s Richest People

The world’s richest individuals have built incredible fortunes, and they likely have a brilliant team deciding how best to invest that fortune. If you’re looking for investment ideas, you can find valuable insights by looking at the stock portfolios of the top billionaires.

Summarized below are the stock holdings of some of the 10 richest people in the world. You won’t find micro-cap companies in their top holdings. These men have so much wealth, they can only invest in large-cap companies, if they want to concentrate their investment money.

We presume you don’t have a billion dollars (at least not yet!), so copying their investments should not be a problem for you. Of course, it's crucial to do your own research and to understand your risk tolerance before you buy an individual stock.

Bills Gates

The founder of Microsoft is worth about $130 billion. A large portion of his wealth is managed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. Surprisingly, the Trust concentrates its stock holdings in only a few stocks. In fact, about two-thirds of the Trust’s portfolio is invested in just three stocks:

• Microsoft (MSFT) – this is the Trust’s largest holding (no surprise).

• Berkshire Hathway (BRK.B) – see below (under Warren Buffet) for more details.

• Canadian National Railway (CNI) – this firm is one-half of the railroad duopoly in the Canadian market. In fact, it is the only railroad that connects Canada's Eastern and Western coasts with the U.S. South.

Jeff Bezos

The founder of Amazon, and the world’s 2nd richest man, manages his portfolio through his investment firm, Bezos Expeditions. He currently holds positions in dozens of companies. These some of the most notable:

• Airbnb (ABNB)

• Uber (UBER)

• Workday (WDAY) – sells financial management, HR, and planning software to enterprises.

• Remitly Global (RELY) – offers international money transfers.

Elon Musk

The world’s 3rd richest man chooses not to uphold an extensive collection of publicly traded stocks in companies where he lacks active, day-to-day involvement. There is little public disclosure of his private holdings, but it’s safe to say most of his wealth derives from his ownership of Tesla. Musk owns about 20% of Telsa, which translates to a value of over $120 billion. Interestingly, the world 5th richest man, Larry Ellison, owns about 1% of Tesla, making him Tesla’s second-largest individual shareholder after Musk.

Warren Buffett

Most of Warren Buffet’s wealth is tied up in his ~15% ownership of Berkshire Hathaway, an enormous and highly successful conglomerate holding company. It’s easy to see Buffet’s top stock picks by looking at Berkshire’s holdings. The top 5 holdings include:

• Apple (AAPL) - by far Berkshire Hathaway's largest holding, which is worth over $130 billion.

• Bank of America (BAC)

• American Express Company (AXP)

• The Coca-Cola Company (KO) – Berkshire has owned this stock since 1988, making it the company’s oldest current stock holding.

• Chevron (CVX)

Make Extra Cash

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A Quick Tipping Guide to Avoid Embarrassment/Harassment

In today's world, many purchases that involve some form of human-to-human contact come with the expectation of a tip. It’s maddening. Your tip helps to pay the service provider’s living wage, because the owner of the business that employs the service provider knows they can underpay the employee thanks to your tip.

If you tip lightly (or not at all), it’s embarrassing at best or you get harassed by the service provider at worst. Here’s a quick guide to reasonable tipping in 2024:

• Coffee shop: So many nuances here. If you’re getting a standard, grab-and-go drip coffee (or low-effort item) at the counter, don’t feel bad about not tipping. If the drink involves more labor, tip $1-$2 per drink. Tipping is more common at a local coffee shop than a big chain like Starbucks.

• Valet drivers: $3-$5 tip is fine.

• Plumbers: 20%. Kidding, of course. Just checking if you’re reading.

• Doordash/Uber Eats/GrubHub: $4 is a reasonable tip in a survey done by US Foods. A reasonable tip falls somewhere between 15% to 20% of the total bill. If the order size is small or the distance is long, tip 20%+. In case you’re curious, food delivery drivers receive a base pay for every offer they accept, but the base pay ranges from $2-$10.

• Sit-down restaurant: Tipping etiquette hasn’t changed over time. Always tip 15-20%.

• Bartenders: 15-20% of your drink tab is customary.

• Pizza delivery: Tip $3-$5 for a small order and $5-$7 for a large order.

• Hair Stylists and Barbers: Tipping 15-20% of the service cost is standard.

• Movers: A tip of $15-$20 per mover per hour is a good starting point.

• Open-bar events: No tip necessary. The host of the event has very likely already paid the staff a tip.

Don't Get Fooled! How to Spot Fake Reviews on Amazon

Amazon is overflowing with fake reviews. The sheer scale of deception is staggering. A study by Circuit found that 43% of Amazon’s bestselling products have unreliable reviews.

Fake reviews on Amazon have become an industry. There are even fake review brokers that connect sellers who want positive reviews for their products with people willing to write them – for a price.

Unethical sellers are even turning to AI to write fake reviews, but you can use AI to weed out fake reviews by using Fakespot.

Fakespot analyzes review patterns to identify suspicious activity. By examining factors like reviewer history, language used, and overall rating distribution, it assigns a letter grade to a product's reviews. An "A" indicates a high likelihood of genuine reviews, while an "F" suggests the reviews are likely fabricated.

You can download the free Chrome browser extension here. Fakespot works on major shopping sites, such as Walmart, ebay, Best Buy, Shopify, and more.

Get Fair Prices for Medical Procedures – Know Your Rights and Options

It’s astounding to us that people will spend hours searching online for the best priced consumer products, but they spend zero time shopping for the best price for a medical procedure.

You don’t have to simply accept the price that a healthcare provider quotes you for a potential service. You should verify if the cost is reasonable.

How do you do that? Use FairHealthConsumer.org. This free site allows you to estimate the typical cost of a specific medical or dental procedure in your area. Simply enter the procedure name and your zip code to see a range of what you might expect to pay. The site uses a massive database of private insurance claims to generate its cost estimates, so you will get a good sense of what healthcare providers typically charge for various procedures.

Once your procedure is over, review your medical bill carefully. Remember, you are legally entitled to receive an itemized medical bill within 30 days of your request.

Make sure there are no surprise charges. If you do see a surprise, know that the federal No Surprises Act protects you. If you receive non-emergency care from an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility (like a hospital), you're generally protected from surprise bills. You won't be charged extra if you receive emergency care from an out-of-network provider.