BYD shareholders: Who owns the most BYDDY stock?

BYD Limited (1211) stock has a track record of outperforming the wider market. The firm has established itself as a leading force in the up-and-coming electric vehicle market (EV) in China.

BYD Limited (1211) live stock price

Who are the shareholders of BYD, and is it possible for foreigners to invest in this Chinese business? Here we take a look at the ownership structure of BYD and the types of shares available to both foreign and Chinese investors.

What is BYD?

BYD is a Chinese electric batteries maker. Founded in 2003, the company is a leading player in Asia.

The firm generates almost half its revenues from the sale of components for mobile phones. A small portion of the firm’s top line comes from the sale of rechargeable batteries.

As of December 2022, Wuang Chuan-fu was the Chairman, Executive Director and President of BYD Limited. He has been at the helm since 1995, when he founded the Shenzhen BYD Battery Company. 

BYD was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July 2002 under the ticker symbol 1211. In June 2011, the company also listed its shares in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 002594. 

Its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are available under the ticker symbol BYDDY. For BYDDY shareholders, one ADR represents two Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

In the past 10 years, the BYD stock price has risen 968.7%, as of 20 December. During that same period, the S&P 500 (US500) and the US Tech 100 (US100) generated gains of 163.8% and 309.8%, respectively.

Who owns the most shares of BYD?

According to data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), BYD Limited has issued 1,098,000,000 H shares, as of 30 November 2022. There were also 1.81 billion A shares in circulation, according to the firm’s 2021 annual report. 

The HKEX’s website, as of 20 December, revealed that Berkshire Hathaway (BRKb), the conglomerate led by Warren Buffett, owned as much as 39.9% of the issued voting H shares. Rongjie Investment Holding Group owned 8.9%. Blackrock was listed among the major shareholders of BYD.

Data from MarketScreener, as of 20 December, revealed that The Vanguard Group and Himalaya Capital Management were among the largest BYD shareholders.

All BYD shares have voting rights, meaning that all BYD shareholders have a say in the company’s affairs in line with the number of shares they own.

Individuals who buy BYD stock through a broker can appoint them as a proxy, meaning that the broker can vote on their behalf. However, they can also opt to cast a vote on the company’s key decisions at BYD shareholders meetings.

List of BYD biggest shareholders

• Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway is an Omaha-based conglomerate run by Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest men. Also known as “The Oracle of Omaha”, Buffett is considered to be one of the most successful investors of our times. 

Buffett’s investment in BYD dates back to 2008, when he bought around $230m of the company’s Hong Kong-listed shares during the global financial crisis.

• Blackrock

Blackrock (BLK) is among the world’s largest asset management firms, overseeing nearly $8tn for its customers, as of the third fiscal quarter of 2022. 

The firm offers access to multiple financial assets and investment vehicles via its iShares family of products, which include exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to Chinese equities like BYD. This is why Blackrock is listed among the largest shareholders of BYD. 

• Himalaya Capital Management

Himalaya is an investment fund founded in 1997 and run by Li Lu, who has adopted the principles set forth by Benjamin Graham – also known as the father of security analysis – and his protégé, Warren Buffett. 

Data from MarketScreener indicated that Himalaya owned 62.88 million shares of BYD at the time of writing (19 December). This made it the third largest holder among institutional BYD shareholders.

BYD major shareholders among insiders

The following individuals are considered the largest BYD shareholders among the company’s insiders, according to the firm’s 2021 annual report. This list includes the firm’s top executives and members of the Board of Directors.

Wang Chuanfu – 513,623,850 shares

Lu Xiangyang – 394,378,222 shares

Xia Zuoquan – 82,635,607 shares

These three individuals reportedly controlled 34.03% of the company’s voting power as of 31 December 2021.

• Wang Chuanfu

Chuanfu is the Chairman, Executive Director and President of BYD. He is the founder of the Shenzhen BYD Battery Company – the original business that was eventually turned into what BYD is today. 

He graduated from the Central South University in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in metallurgy physical chemistry and completed graduate studies in this same field. According to Forbes, his net worth was approximately $20bn, as of 20 December.

• Lu Xiangyang

Economist Xiangyang co-founded the Shenzhen BYD Battery Company alongside Mr. Chuan-fu. 

Xiangyang is currently the company’s Vice Chairman and a Non-Executive Director. He is also the chairman of Youngy Investment Holding Group, one of the largest institutional shareholders of BYD Limited.

• Xia Zuoquan

Zuoquan joined BYD two years after the company was founded, and serves as an Executive Director and Vice President. Before joining the firm, he was an employee of the Hubei branch of The People’s Insurance Company. 

Zuoquan graduated from the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Engineering as a computer scientist and completed graduate studies at the Guanghua School of Management of Peking University. 

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