Buffett hit by $10b one-week stock drop

Berkshire Hathaway Inc, run by billionaire Warren Buffett, may have suffered a $10.4 billion decline in its US stock holdings last week, led by the plunging value of Coca-Cola Co and Wells Fargo & Co.

Berkshire's portfolio fell about 17 percent, compared with the 18 percent slump in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Soft- drink maker Coca-Cola, Berkshire's top equity investment, lost 21 percent. Wells Fargo, which will become the bank with the most US branches through a deal to buy Wachovia Corp, slipped 18 percent.

The two holdings declined by a total of about $4 billion, based on positions disclosed in a regulatory filing.