The Sage of Omaha may yet be fallible. Stock in Berkshire Hathaway, the company run by billionaire Warren Buffett, fell by 32 per cent last year as it recorded its worst performance in more than 30 years.

The slump shows that even Mr Buffett, who has a massive following among investors, was not immune from the US recession. The value of his group's equity holdings and derivative bets fell despite Mr Buffett pouring money into stocks as prices fell — Berkshire announced 12 acquisitions last year.

Berkshire became the biggest shareholder in ConocoPhillips, the US refiner, agreed to buy $8 billion in preferred shares from investment bank Goldman Sachs and General Electric, and $3 billion from Dow Chemical.

"Buffett has the opportunity to do what he does best, which is acquire new companies at prices that have him licking his lips," Frank Betz, a partner at Carret Zane Capital Management, which holds Berkshire shares, told Bloomberg.

However, Mr Buffett's guru status is unlikely to be dented by the fall. Berkshire Hathaway beat the 38 per cent dive in the Standard & Poor's 500 index and 2008 was the 14th year in 20 that Mr Buffett has outperformed the benchmark. All four indexes, including the S&P 500, would have to fall to zero for Berkshire to be liable for the $35.5 billion that is at risk, Mr Buffett said in November.

"In 2008, there was nowhere to hide," said Guy Spier, chief investment officer at Aquamarine Capital Management. "Berkshire can't escape the general fate of American businesses. What Buffett tries to do is ensure that Berkshire Hathaway does less badly than other companies."

Many of the top holdings in Berkshire's stock portfolio, valued at $76 billion as at September 30, declined at least 15 per cent in the last quarter. ConocoPhillips plunged 29 per cent in the fourth quarter, Coca-Cola, Berkshire's top holding, dropped 14 per cent and Wells Fargo fell 21 per cent.

Mr Buffett has previously been bullish about plunging stocks. He told Fox Business at the end of November: "It doesn’t make any difference. It’s happened to me three other times. It happened when it went from 90 to 40 back in 1974, and it happened in 1987. It went down 50 per cent in 1998-to-2000. I mean, I hope I live long enough so it happens a couple more times.”

A spokeswoman for Berkshire added: "I don't think Mr Buffett is bummed out at all."

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive