by Brad Anderson
- Berkshire Hathaway fully divested its 17-year investment stake in BYD.
- Warren Buffett first bought 225 million BYD shares in 2008 at HK$8 each.
- BYD sold 4.27 million vehicles in 2024, including 1.76 million EVs.
In 2008, an audacious bet was placed on a little-known Chinese automaker, one that most outside the country had never heard of. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested HK$1.8 billion ($231.7 million) in BYD, a company still in its early days and largely unproven on the global stage. Seventeen years later, the gamble has paid off handsomely, and Buffett has decided the time is right to walk away.
Read: BYD Changes Course After Realizing Not Everyone Is Ready For EVs
A quarterly filing from Berkshire Hathaway Energy confirms that the firm has now sold its entire stake in BYD. The exit didn’t happen overnight. Beginning in 2022, the company quietly trimmed its holdings across 15 separate rounds, each documented in financial reports. Before the sell-off began in late summer of that year, Berkshire’s stake was valued at roughly $7.7 billion.
From Penny Stock To Powerhouse
When Buffet first purchased 225 million shares in BYD at the insistence of investment partner Charlie Munger, the company’s shares were trading at just HK$8. According to CNBC, BYD’s shares have surged by 3,890% since Buffet’s investment. It’s unclear exactly how much money Berkshire Hathaway has made through its BYD investments, but it’s certainly billions of dollars.
After the sale, BYD’s general manager for branding and public relations, Li Yunfei, thanked Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway for the investment. At its peak, the investment company owned roughly 10 percent of the Chinese automaker.
News of the divestment, immediately weighed on the market, with BYD shares slipping 3.4 percent and landing among the weakest performers on a Hong Kong index of Chinese companies.
“In stock investments, buying and selling is a normal part of the process,” Li said. “We appreciate the recognition from Munger and Buffett of BYD, as well as their investment, support and partnership over the past 17 years. We appreciate all long-term investments.”
Last year, BYD sold 4.27 million vehicles around the world, consisting of 1.76 million battery-electric vehicles and 2.49 million plug-in hybrids. This year, it had hoped to deliver as many as 5.5 million vehicles, but due to increased competition, as well as a slowdown in its home market, it has cut this forecast down to 4.6 million.
