Chinese Automaker Investment Pays Off for Buffett
By Michelle Krebs October 22, 2009A stake purchased in Chinese automaker/batterymaker BYD is paying off for billionaire 
investor Warren Buffett.
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. last September paid $230 million for a 10-percent stake in BYD. Since then, the stock has risen from the $1.21 a share that Buffett paid to $10.55 a share, the Detroit News reports.
The stock-run up has made company founder Wang Chuanfu the richest man in China, according to the Hurun Report, a list of the wealthiest Chinese.
Still, the run-up may be short-lived as analysts caution the rise has been too quick.
BYD has been in the car business only since 2003 and still only sell as a relatively small number of vehicles - 400,000 this year in China and other small export markets like the Ukraine.
The company started as a maker of lithium-ion batteries for cell phones and computers. The company has shown its electric cars at auto shows (pictured), including the Detroit auto show, as it has plans to sell them in the U.S. Volkswagen AG is considering a battery deal with BYD.
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One can still buy BH shares. They haven't reported earnings yet.
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