BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, was China’s fastest growing car company in 2009. Berkshire Hathaway bought a 10% stake in BYD for $230 million in 2008, which is today worth an estimated US$1.5 billion, a sevenfold rate of return.
When Warren Buffet made his trip to the Changsha factory where BYD vehicles are produced, he was accompanied by long-time friend and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who is due to speak to China’s growing elite about the value of philanthropy.
BYD makes fleet vehicles, buses and a new line of electric cars.
"No company can live up to the hype BYD’s received," AltTransport reported John Casesa, managing partner at New York-based Casesa & Co., as telling Bloomberg.
"It would have to do everything absolutely perfectly to live up to the expectations of the market at the peak stock price, and no company does everything perfectly."