By Michael Elkins
Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa), appeared on the Daily Journal’s virtual annual meeting Wednesday and spoke about the state of electric vehicles in China. The billionaire investment banker said on the show that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) pales in comparison to BYD (SZ:002594) (OTC:BYDDY) in China, calling the Chinese electric vehicle maker his favorite stock ever.
“I have never helped do anything at Berkshire [Hathaway] that was as good as BYD and I only did it once,” the 99-year-old investor said at the meeting Wednesday. Berkshire's initial investment is now “worth about $8 billion or maybe [$9 billion]. That’s a pretty good rate of return,” said Munger, Warren Buffett’s longtime investment partner.
Berkshire first bought 220 million shares of BYD in September 2008. The stock has jumped more than 600% in the past 10 years amid the massive growth in electric vehicles.
“At the current price of BYD stock, little BYD is worth more than the entire Mercedes corporation. It’s not a cheap stock, but on the other hand, it’s a very remarkable company,” Munger said.
When asked if he would prefer Tesla or BYD as an investment, Munger said the answer is easy.
“Tesla last year reduced its prices in China twice. BYD increased its prices. We are direct competitors. BYD is so much ahead of Tesla in China ... it’s almost ridiculous,” Munger said.
The longtime investor called Tesla CEO Elon Musk talented — and “peculiar.” He previously said what Musk achieved in the car business was a “minor miracle.”
“I don’t buy him, and I don’t short him,” Munger said Wednesday.
Shares of TSLA are down 0.42% in pre-market trading on Thursday.