LI LU
Charlie Munger's chosen fund manager
The man Charlie Munger trusted with his own family money — which tells you more about Li Lu than any track record ever could. A Tiananmen Square student leader who fled China, talked his way into Columbia with no money and no English, and built Himalaya Capital into one of the best-performing value funds on Earth. His 2002 bet on BYD turned $60 million into over $5 billion. Munger called him "the Chinese Warren Buffett." He hates that nickname.
Net Worth
$2.5 Billion
Nationality
Chinese-American
Time Horizon
Generational
Risk Appetite
5 / 10
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Student leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests — was on the government's most-wanted list. Fled China and arrived in the US with $40 in his pocket.
Earned degrees from Columbia University — bachelor's, JD, and MBA simultaneously. Founded Himalaya Capital Management in 1997.
Convinced Charlie Munger to invest in BYD in 2008 — Berkshire bought $230 million worth. Manages billions with annualized returns estimated at 20%+ over two decades.
The only external fund manager Munger ever entrusted with his family's capital.
COMPANIES & ROLES
Himalaya Capital Management (founder & CIO)
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Deep value with extreme patience. Li Lu buys businesses he understands completely, in industries with structural tailwinds, at prices that make the math almost impossible to lose.
He holds for decades, not years. His concentration is extreme — Himalaya's portfolio is usually fewer than 10 positions.
He specializes in finding world-class businesses in Asia that Western investors overlook because they can't read the filings or don't understand the culture.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Moderate with extreme conviction. He doesn't take many swings, but when he does, he goes big.
The BYD position was roughly 50% of his fund at one point. He's comfortable with concentration that would make most fund managers physically ill — but only after exhaustive research.
Money Habits
Extraordinarily private. Drives a normal car.
Lives modestly relative to his wealth. Reinvests almost everything back into Himalaya Capital.
He doesn't do interviews, doesn't appear on TV, and has turned down virtually every media request for 20 years.
BIGGEST WIN
BYD. Full stop.
Li Lu first invested around 2002 when BYD was a small battery maker nobody in the West had heard of. He then brought the idea to Charlie Munger, who convinced Berkshire Hathaway to invest $230 million in 2008.
That stake grew to over $8 billion. Li Lu's own position reportedly turned $60 million into over $5 billion.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
His biggest "mistake" might be his extreme secrecy — by staying so private, he's missed building a brand that could attract more capital. But he'd probably say that's a feature, not a bug.
He manages a deliberately small fund because he believes size is the enemy of returns.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
Li Lu believes investing is fundamentally about understanding the path of civilization. He looks for companies riding structural forces — urbanization, electrification, technological adoption — and then applies Munger-style analysis to find the ones with genuine competitive advantages.
He doesn't time markets. He doesn't hedge.
He just buys great businesses and waits.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Very private about personal life. Married with children.
Lives in the Seattle area.
EDUCATION
Columbia University — earned a BA, JD (law degree), and MBA simultaneously in the 1990s. One of only a handful of people to complete all three at Columbia at the same time.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
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QUOTES (6)
The best investments are the ones where the downside is limited and the upside is unlimited. That requires patience most people don't have.
I came to America with forty dollars. Everything I have, I earned by understanding businesses better than the people selling them.
Charlie Munger taught me that the big money is not in the buying and the selling, but in the waiting.
Most investors fail because they confuse activity with progress. The fewer decisions you make, the better each one tends to be.
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