Investor Warren Buffet Earns 28.8 Trillion Profit From China's Electric Car Company

Investor Warren Buffet can profit trillions from his investments (Byrich)

JAKARTA – Legendary investor Warren Buffet managed to make a profit through his company Berkshire Hathaway from shares of an electric car company from China, BYD. The profit is worth USD 2 billion (IDR 28.8 trillion).

Cited from Business Insider, this achievement succeeded in increasing the value of the electric car company BYD by around USD 8 billion (approximately IDR 114 trillion) with a 3.400 percent increase in investment in less than 13 years.

Previously, in 2008, Barkshire Hathaway had spent USD 232 million or approximately IDR 3.3 trillion to buy 225 million BYD shares. According to the latest report, the shares were worth USD 5.9 billion (IDR 84 trillion) at the end of 2020.

After that, BYD's share price skyrocketed 23 percent. Therefore, the value of Berkshire Hathaway's shares also increased by 8 percent to USD 7.9 billion (approximately IDR 112.5 trillion).

On Monday, September 6, the price of BYD's shares, which are listed in Hong Kong, increased by 8 percent. The increase occurred after the company reported that its electric car sales had quadrupled year on year (YoY) to 60.500 units in August.

BYD managed to sell 261.000 vehicles in eight months in 2021. The sales increased three times higher than the previous year in the same period of 85 thousand units.

Sales of these electric cars have recorded an increase of 125 percent to 149 thousand units in the first 8 months of 2021. Meanwhile, sales of plug-in hybrids also increased by 485 percent to 112 thousand units.

However, sales of BYD's gas-powered cars experienced a significant decline of 22 percent to 106.000 units in the same period in 2021.

Since 2019 BYD has received special attention from Buffet. At the time, Barkshire Hathaway deputy chairman Charlie Munger also paid tribute to BYD boss Wang Chuanfu. Munger lauds Chuanfu as a mix between Thomas Edison and GE Jack Welch, his former boss.

The company has succeeded in increasing its income almost 6 times, around USD 24 billion (approximately IDR 342 trillion) and its net income has tripled to USD 1 billion (IDR 14.2 trillion) since Buffett's company invested in BYD several years ago.