Berkshire Hathaway exits BYD stake after 17 years as BYD grows into EV leader

Berkshire Hathaway on Monday disclosed that its investment affiliate has fully exited its stake in BYD, ending a 17-year run that helped propel the Chinese electric-vehicle maker into a global leader. The move is reflected in Berkshire’s latest regulatory filings, which show the value of the BYD investment held by Berkshire Hathaway Energy as zero as of March 31, down from $415 million at the end of 2024. BYD, once a niche challenger in China’s auto industry, has risen to become the world’s largest EV manufacturer, a status that has drawn attention to Warren Buffett’s long involvement with the company and underscored the volatility and potential of the broader clean-energy transition.

Buffett's firm first invested in BYD in 2008, paying about $230 million for roughly 225 million shares, a stake that represented around 10 percent at the time. The position began to unwind in 2022 as BYD’s stock price surged more than 20-fold from the early-2020 levels, extending into 2023 and 2024 as the company expanded beyond its domestic market. The latest US regulatory filings show Berkshire’s BYD exposure shrinking in stages before the final exit, with the energy unit recording the investment’s value as zero as of March 31. The move comes as BYD reported a quarterly profit decline for the first time in three and a half years and as market watchers have watched the company navigate a tougher period in its domestic market.

BYD reported a quarterly profit decline for the first time in three and a half years, underscoring the sector's volatility even as the company expands production and product lines. The company said domestic sales—representing about 80 percent of its global shipments—were down for a fourth consecutive month in August as demand cooled in China. In response, BYD trimmed its annual sales target by as much as 16 percent, to about 4.6 million vehicles, signaling the challenges facing even the industry’s leading players amid heightened competition and broader macro headwinds affecting consumer spending and financing.

While Berkshire Hathaway and BYD have not issued formal comment on the exit, BYD’s branding chief, Li Yunfei, posted on the Chinese social network Weibo to thank Berkshire for its “investment, help and companionship over the past 17 years.” The public message signaled a cordial close to a high-profile investment that once drew comparisons to a “Tesla killer,” though BYD has since matured into a diversified automaker with units spanning conventional hybrids and plug-in electrics.

From a market perspective, Berkshire’s full exit illustrates how large, long-duration bets in fast-evolving sectors can shift as valuations and business models evolve. BYD’s shares have climbed more than 200 percent over the last five years and roughly 575 percent since the start of 2020, reflecting investor confidence in its scale, profitability potential, and the broader push toward electrification. Yet the latest results underscore that even the sector’s leaders contend with profits fluctuations and demand variability, factors that can influence investment strategies and portfolio composition among major global funds.