Moody's Stock Nudges 8%—Warren Buffett Walks Away With $888 Million

Warren Buffett has quietly scored one of 2025's biggest wins, and it didn't come from tech or AI. Instead, the Oracle of Omaha's fortune swelled by nearly $900 million this year thanks to his long-standing bet on Moody's Corp. (NYSE:MCO). Shares of the credit-ratings giant have climbed from $473 at the start of the year to $509 today, a seemingly modest 7.6% gain that turned into a massive payday given Buffett's 24.7 million-share stake.

Track MCO stock here.

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A Giant Bet That Keeps Growing

Buffett's position in Moody's isn't just another line in the Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK) (NYSE:BRK) portfolio—it's one of his most lucrative hidden gems. The stock accounts for 4.8% of Berkshire's equity holdings, and Buffett personally owns approximately 13.7% of the company.

His average price? A mere $57 a share, averaging since he entered the stock in 2001. This means today's $509 is nearly a nine-fold increase. It’s almost like every $1 move in MCO stock adds nearly $25 million to Berkshire's books. This year's surge has handed Buffett a staggering windfall.

For perspective, Moody's year-to-date performance has outpaced the S&P 500's 5% climb, giving Buffett yet another feather in his cap for beating Wall Street benchmarks. With credit markets active and bond issuance on the upswing, Moody's has been perfectly positioned to benefit—and Buffett has been perfectly positioned to collect.

Patience Turns Into Billions

Buffett has long preached that "time is the friend of the wonderful business," and Moody's proves the point. The $888-million gain in 2025 is just a small slice of the bigger pie: over $11 billion in lifetime gains (based on average purchase price) since he began accumulating shares nearly a quarter-century ago. While investors chase the latest shiny names in artificial intelligence, Buffett's wealth keeps compounding steadily in a credit-ratings firm that rarely makes headlines.

This year's surge shows that even modest stock moves can add billions when paired with Buffett-sized conviction. For the Oracle of Omaha, Moody's has once again turned patience into profit.

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