Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway fully exits BYD after 17-yr investment

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has sold its entire stake in Chinese EV maker BYD, ending a 17-year investment that grew more than 20 times in value

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has completely sold its stake in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD, ending a 17-year-long investment that turned into one of its most profitable bets, news agency Reuters reported.

 

According to a filing by Berkshire’s energy unit, the value of its BYD holding was listed as zero at the end of March 2025. That marked a steep drop from $415 million recorded at the close of 2024.

 

Berkshire had first invested in Shenzhen-based BYD in 2008, buying 225 million shares for $230 million — a 10 per cent stake at the time. The company began selling down its shares in 2022 after BYD’s stock price surged more than 20-fold.

 

 

Li Yunfei, BYD’s general manager of branding and public relations, thanked Berkshire in a Weibo post for its “investment, help and companionship over the past 17 years". He described Berkshire’s exit as a “normal” stock trade.

 

Buffett’s nearly two-decade stake in BYD generated extraordinary returns. From his first purchase in September 2008 until March 31, 2025, the stock rose more than 4,500 per cent, giving Berkshire billions in profits.   

 

BYD faces growth challenges

 

BYD, often described as Tesla’s strongest rival, is now facing headwinds. The automaker reported its first quarterly profit decline in three and a half years, as the government’s push against aggressive price wars slowed expansion.

 

Domestic sales — nearly 80 per cent of BYD’s total production — fell for the fourth month in a row in August. The company has since lowered its annual sales target by up to 16 per cent, cutting projections to 4.6 million vehicles, Reuters reported.

 

Buffett to donate $6 billion to philanthropy

 

In June this year, Buffett announced he would donate about $6 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares to five foundations. The donations are part of his long-standing pledge to give away his fortune, Bloomberg had reported.

 

A statement said that about 9.43 million Class B shares will go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. Another 2.92 million shares will be divided among his children’s foundations — the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation — as well as the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late wife.

 

Buffett, 95, co-founded the Giving Pledge with Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2010, encouraging billionaires to commit most of their wealth to charity. He has been making large annual donations since 2006.   

 

  “The mathematics of the lifetime commitments to the five foundations are interesting,” Buffett had said. “The five foundations have received Berkshire B shares that had a value when received of about $60 billion, substantially more than my entire net worth in 2006.”