Warren Buffett dumps stake in Chinese Tesla rival amid £31bn exodus
Chris Price
Mon, September 22, 2025
BYD has said that profits have fallen in the second quarter of this year, down 30pc from the same period in 2024 -
Chan Long Hei/Bloomberg
Warren Buffett’s investment giant has sold off its entire stake in BYD as investors lose faith in China’s Tesla rival.
Berkshire Hathaway revealed in its latest filings that its shareholding in BYD fell to zero in the second quarter, down from $415m (£308m) at the end of last year.
Mr Buffett’s exit led to the carmaker’s shares falling by 3.4pc in Hong Kong on Monday, fuelling a £31bn drop in BYD’s valuation since May.
Nicknamed the Oracle of Omaha, Mr Buffett first bought shares in BYD in September 2008 after the company was recommended by Charlie Munger, his long-term business partner, who died in 2023.
The company’s share price has since risen by more than 4,500pc, although it has been losing steam over the past six months.
Mr Buffett has been selling down his stake since 2022, a move that other Western investors have followed in recent months.
The carmaker’s top five stakeholders – Vanguard, BlackRock, JP Morgan, Fidelity and Citigroup – sold a combined 222m Hong Kong-listed shares in the second quarter, worth around £2.6bn.
The latest downturn has left BYD’s shares down more than 29pc from their record highs set in May this year, wiping around £31bn off its market valuation.
It comes after BYD said profits fell to 6.4bn yuan in the second quarter of the year, down 30pc from the same period in 2024, amid a fierce EV price war.
Li Yunfei, a BYD executive, said in a post on Chinese social media site Weibo: “In stock investing, buying and selling are normal practices.
“We’re grateful to Munger and Buffett for their recognition of BYD, and for their 17 years of investment, support and companionship.”
The sell-off comes despite the carmaker, which sells EVs and hybrids, growing its share of the British car market, with sales of 1,759 vehicles in August, up from 438 during the same month last year.
However, the manufacturer in May began selling its entry-level car for 75pc less than the cheapest Tesla, cutting the price of the Seagull hatchback by 20pc to 55,800 yuan (£5,800).
That is around a quarter of the cost of Tesla’s cheapest car, the Model 3, which sells for 231,900 yuan.
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