Veteran investor Warren Buffett has sold his stake in Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, realizing a twentyfold return on the investment he began in 2008. The Berkshire Hathaway firm, led by the 95-year-old “Sage of Omaha,” initially invested $230 million in BYD. By the time the firm began selling, the holding had ballooned to around $9 billion.
Berkshire Hathaway started reducing its position in 2022, and by June last year had sold over three-quarters of its stake, bringing its holding to less than 5 per cent. The latest quarterly filings show that the firm now holds no remaining shares in the company.
The decision comes amid a backdrop of geopolitical tensions, including trade tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on China. Berkshire Hathaway has also been divesting from the semiconductor maker Taiwan Semiconductor, citing a reassessment of geopolitical risk. Buffett remarked in a 2023 media interview: “It’s a dangerous world.”
Buffett has praised BYD as an “extraordinary company” run by an “extraordinary person,” referring to founder, chairman, and CEO Wang Chuanfu, while noting that the firm would find other investment opportunities he feels more confident about. The initial BYD investment was encouraged by Buffett’s late business partner, Charlie Munger, who at the 2009 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting described the acquisition as “a damn miracle,” despite critics thinking the pair had “gone crazy.”
BYD has recently overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest electric car seller, offering both hybrids and full electric vehicles. The company is currently valued at approximately $137 billion on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, though its stock has fallen by roughly 20 per cent this year amid concerns over price wars in the Chinese auto market.
Last year, BYD posted $110 billion in revenue—a 29 per cent increase—and net profits of about $5.6 billion, with nearly 30 per cent of its 4.7 million vehicles sold going to overseas markets. In the UK, BYD deliveries have surged 500 per cent in the first eight months of 2025, capturing around 2 per cent of the market and outselling established brands such as Citroën, Honda, and Seat.
As Times UK reports, Buffett’s exit from BYD reinforces his reputation not only for backing transformative companies—like Apple and Coca-Cola—but also for the timing of his sales, turning long-term stakes into extraordinary returns.
