---
title: Here's How Much the Wells Fargo Scandal Cost Warren Buffett
description: After the Wells Fargo scandal and $185 million fine, Warren Buffett's value fell by $1.4 billion when the stock dropped.
authors:
  - name: Martha C. White
    role: Writer
    url: https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/
    education: BA, English, Princeton University
    at_money_since: 2015
    articles: 350
    covers:
      - Business
      - Banking
      - Career Advice
      - Credit
      - Credit Cards
      - Debt
      - Economy and Politics
      - Education
      - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts
      - Health and Wellness
      - Housing
      - Identity Theft
      - Insurance
      - Investing
      - Lifestyle
      - Loans
      - Mortgages
      - Personal Finance
      - Professional Services
      - Retirement
      - Shopping
      - Taxes
      - Technology
published: '2016-09-14T15:25:32.000Z'
modified: '2024-05-16T11:40:24.000Z'
section: Business
tags:
  - Berkshire Hathaway
  - Net Worth
  - pubdesk
  - stocks
  - Warren Buffett
  - Wells Fargo
word_count: 186
canonical: https://money.com/warren-buffett-wells-fargo-scandal/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![buffett-wells-fargo](https://img.money.com/2016/09/buffett-wells-fargo.jpeg)

Although Wells Fargo was slapped with $185 million in fines for opening roughly 2 million unauthorized checking and credit card accounts, the one who really lost big was Warren Buffett. The famous investor lost $1.4 billion when the bank's stock fell on Tuesday.

Other billionaire investors also lost money in market fallout of the Wells Fargo mess, according to [Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-14/buffett-s-wells-fargo-stake-saps-1-4-billion-in-a-day-chart), but the fall was especially painful for Warren Buffett because most of his billions are tied up in his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, which is Wells Fargo's biggest shareholder. When the share price of Wells Fargo fell by more than 3%, Berkshire Hathaway's own stock also fell.

It's been a rough week for Buffett. Last Friday, a New York company [sued](http://fortune.com/2016/09/14/berkshire-hathaway-lawsuit/) Berkshire Hathaway for $18 million, claiming that a worker's comp insurance policy it purchased was actually a high-risk investment that left the company on the hook for nearly $900,000.

Don't feel too bad for the Oracle of Omaha though: Buffett's net worth is still nearly $66 billion, according to [*Bloomberg's Billionaire's Index*](http://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/2016-09-13/cya). That makes him the 4th richest person on the plaent, behind Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega and Jeff Bezos.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-wells-fargo-scandal/#breadcrumb",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://money.com"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Business",
          "item": "https://money.com/business/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Customer Service",
          "item": "https://money.com/customer-service/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "Here's How Much the Wells Fargo Scandal Cost Warren Buffett"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://money.com/#website",
      "url": "https://money.com",
      "name": "Money",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-wells-fargo-scandal/#webpage",
      "url": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-wells-fargo-scandal/",
      "name": "Here's How Much the Wells Fargo Scandal Cost Warren Buffett",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#website"
      },
      "datePublished": "2016-09-14T15:25:32.000Z",
      "mainEntity": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-wells-fargo-scandal/"
      },
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "breadcrumb": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-wells-fargo-scandal/#breadcrumb"
      },
      "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:40:24.000Z"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "Here's How Much the Wells Fargo Scandal Cost Warren Buffett",
      "articleSection": "Business",
      "image": [
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/09/buffett-wells-fargo.jpeg",
          "width": 3000,
          "height": 2101,
          "caption": "buffett-wells-fargo"
        }
      ],
      "author": [
        {
          "@type": "Person",
          "name": "Martha C. White",
          "url": "https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/",
          "@id": "https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/#author",
          "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/martha.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1",
          "jobTitle": "Writer",
          "alumniOf": "BA, English, Princeton University",
          "worksFor": {
            "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
          }
        }
      ],
      "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization",
      "datePublished": "2016-09-14T15:25:32.000Z",
      "description": "After the Wells Fargo scandal and $185 million fine, Warren Buffett's value fell by $1.4 billion when the stock dropped.",
      "abstract": "After the Wells Fargo scandal and $185 million fine, Warren Buffett's value fell by $1.4 billion when the stock dropped.",
      "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-wells-fargo-scandal/",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:40:24.000Z",
      "wordCount": 186,
      "keywords": [
        "Berkshire Hathaway",
        "Net Worth",
        "pubdesk",
        "stocks",
        "Warren Buffett",
        "Wells Fargo"
      ],
      "about": [
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Business",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business"
          ]
        },
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Customer service",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```
