Li Lu (born April 6, 1966) is a Chinese-born American value investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Himalaya Capital Management. Prior to emigrating to America, he was one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests. In 2021, he also co-founded The Asian American Foundation and serves as its chairman.
Li was inspired to get into investment after hearing Warren Buffett, a Columbia alumnus, give a lecture at Columbia in 1993. As detailed in the Foreword to the Chinese Edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Li Lu found Buffett’s lecture on the principles of investing in the stock market “concise, logical and convincing.”[9] Shortly thereafter, Li Lu began investing in stocks while a student at Columbia University.[10] In 1997, Li Lu founded Himalaya Capital Management, known for its disciplined and value-oriented approach to investing.[11] From 1998 to 2004, he managed both a hedge fund and a venture capital fund.[citation needed] Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and a long-time partner of the legendary investor Warren Buffett, is one of the investors of his fund, and a "mentor and good friend" (in Li Lu's own words).[12] Li Lu met Charlie Munger on Thanksgiving 2003 and they have been friends since. With Munger's help, Li transformed his hedge fund into a long-only investment vehicle which is currently focused on global investment opportunities. Munger has stated that Li Lu is the only outside manager he’s ever invested with and he’s described him as the “Chinese Warren Buffett.”[13] Part of Li's agreement with Munger was that the fund would be closed to new investors.[10] The fund remained closed to new investors from 2004 to 2013 and does not charge a management fee.[14] Himalaya now has almost US$18.5 billion in capital under management investing in global securities. As of June 2021, its largest U.S. investment is in Micron Technology with a value of US$1 billion.[15] Li Lu's investing mantra is "accurate and complete information," including understanding the character of a CEO by visiting his local church and speaking to his neighbors.[16] He believes the most important thing in investing is intellectual honesty, recognizing that there is always a possibility that “you don’t know that you don’t know.”[14] According to a 2021 interview by Columbia Business School Professor Bruce Greenwald, Li Lu’s investment strategy attempts to identify and invest in long-term compounders, focusing on the nature of a business’ competition “such that one could predict the outcome in 10 years, even with all the up and downs in the macro environment” which he says is the most important.[17] Li Lu has been known as the man who introduced the Chinese battery and electric car maker BYD Company to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett. He is an informal advisor to BYD. His investment partnership owns about 2.5% of BYD.[18] Li was rumored to be the front runner to manage a large portion of Berkshire Hathaway's investment portfolio once Warren Buffett steps down. According to The Wall Street Journal, Charlie Munger once said "it is a foregone decision" that Li Lu would be going to be a member of Berkshire's top investors team after Warren Buffett retires. This was also hinted several times in some conversations with Buffett.[10] In 2010, it was revealed that Li Lu had withdrawn himself from consideration for the job.[19] Philanthropy & other activities
