Charlie Munger's 2008 Investment Into This Company Made 39x Returns Over 17 Years, But Berkshire's Timely Exit May Have Cemented The Profits

Legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway's Vice Chairman, Charlie Munger's investment into BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF) in 2008 made the company a sizeable profit. However, Berkshire’s timely exit came right before the automaker reported a decline in sales.

Charlie Munger's BYD Investment

Trung Phan, a user on the social media platform X on Monday, quoted a post that outlined a decline in BYD sales over the first two months of 2026. He shared how Munger's investment in the EV giant turned into a profitable venture.

Quoting Munger, he shared that the investor, in an interview, outlined that he had "never helped do anything at Berkshire that was as good as BYD." Munger had gotten the company to invest $230 million into the Chinese EV giant back in 2008 for a 10% stake in the company.

However, the company began exiting its position in BYD in the year 2022 and ultimately sold the entirety of its stake in the automaker by the third quarter of 2025, "basically right before sales drop," Phan said.

BYD's Sales Draw Concern From Elon Musk

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk also reacted to the drop in sales reported by BYD, sharing that factories running at 50% below capacity meant "mega pain" for the automaker.

BYD reported a 36% drop in its domestic sales during February as it was overtaken in sales by fellow Chinese automaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (OTC:GELYF) (OTC:GELHY) for the first two months of the year.

BYD's Overseas Sales

Despite the domestic decline, BYD's overseas sales remain a strong point for the brand as it reported sustained growth in Europe. During January, BYD sold over 18,242 units in the region, which constituted a 165% increase from the 6,884 units it sold in the European market last year during January. 

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