Billionaire Warren Buffett said on Saturday that Berkshire Hathaway is poised to do well no matter who wins the White House in November, and the billionaire investor defended the performance and tactics of the conglomerate’s several large investments.

Activist investor William Ackman has built a stake worth about $5.5bn (€5.05bn) in Mondelez International, the maker of Cadbury chocolate and Oreo biscuits, in what is seen as an attempt to push the company to boost earnings or sell itself.

Hedge fund mogul David Tepper had a case of deja vu when he ranked as the best paid hedge fund manager for the second year running by earning $3.5bn (€2.5bn) in 2013 with a savvy bet on airline stocks.

The stock market finished with a sharp loss today after bleak readings on the economy heightened investors’ fears of a recession. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 140 points.