Legendary investor Warren Buffett took a stake in Chinese electric vehicle company BYD Co (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF) back in 2008, thanks to former Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s (NYSE:BRK)(NYSE:BRK) vice chairman Charlie Munger being a fan of the company and its founder.
With Berkshire Hathaway entirely exiting its BYD stake, here's a look back at how much the conglomerate may have made over the last 17 years.
What Happened: Berkshire Hathaway took a $230 million investment in BYD in September 2008, accumulating around 225 million shares.
The company held the shares and was a large investor in the company before beginning to sell its stake in August 2022.
A recent disclosure shows that Berkshire Hathaway has completely exited its position, as reported by CNBC. It is unknown exactly when Berkshire Hathaway made that decision, but it was likely in early 2025, based on filings.
Benzinga has attempted to estimate the potential value of the BYD stake to Berkshire Hathaway and its shareholders.
The conglomerate sold 1.33 million shares in August 2022 at an estimated price of $474.8 million, resulting in a profit of approximately $473.5 million. The company also sold shares five times in 2022 for an estimated profit of $1.2 billion, according to CNN.
CNBC estimates the number of shares owned and the selling points for the rest of the stake. Here is the estimates on how much Berkshire Hathaway made each time based on the lowest monthly prices during the months sold.
- January 2023: Sold 11.3 million shares, $8.96 price, $101.25 million
- March 2023: Sold 10.6 million shares, $9.25 price, $98.05 million
- April 2023: Sold 11.4 million shares, $9.68 price, $110.35 million
- June 2023: Sold 9.7 million shares, $10.88 price, $105.54 million
- October 2023: Sold 11.0 million shares, $8.90 price, $97.90 million
- May 2024: Sold 11.9 million shares, $9.48 price, $112.81 million
- May 2024: Sold 9.8 million shares, $9.48 price, $92.90 million
- June 2024: Sold 11.7 million shares, $9.56 price, $111.85 million
- January 2025: Sold 54.2 million shares, $10.58 price, $573.44 million
Add it up, and these sales represent a total of $1.40 billion. Adjusted for a 6-for-1 stock split that was used for the prices and the sales were worth $8.4 billion.
In total, sales since 2022 have netted an estimated profit of $9.97 billion, based on sale price estimates, after deducting the original purchase price of $230 million and adjusting for the sales date.
While this is not an exact estimate, it shows how much Buffett and Munger turned the stake in the small EV company into.
Read Also: Buffett Reveals UnitedHealth Stake, Trims Apple In Berkshire Hathaway Q2 13F Filing
What's Next: News of the exit by Berkshire Hathaway comes as BYD has turned into the top-selling EV company in the world by units.
The company is pushing forward in Europe, a region where it is experiencing strong growth and capturing market share from Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA).
Electric vehicles have not been a big investment idea for Berkshire Hathaway outside of the BYD stake that Munger suggested.
Buffett and Munger have turned down investing in Tesla over the years and have instead invested in oil stocks.
Time will tell if BYD can sustain its strong growth and continue to see shares soar, since 2008, when Berkshire Hathaway first invested.
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Photo: Shutterstock
