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From Tiananmen Square exile to the only Chinese fund manager endorsed by Buffett and Munger, the Himalaya Capital helmsman who opened China to value investing
Li Lu was born in 1966 in Tangshan, China. He survived the 1976 Tangshan earthquake and suffered family persecution during the Cultural Revolution. In 1989, as a student leader at Peking University, he participated in the Tiananmen Square protests, then fled overseas and eventually reached the United States. He simultaneously completed degrees in economics, law, and business at Columbia University, receiving systematic training in the value investing tradition founded by Benjamin Graham. In 1997 he founded Himalaya Capital Management, and through deep research and long-term holding of quality Chinese assets, he discovered and invested in BYD around 2003 and introduced this opportunity to Charlie Munger, facilitating Berkshire Hathaway's historic investment in BYD. Munger publicly stated that among everyone he knew, Li Lu was the only external fund manager to whom he would entrust his money. Li Lu is also a pioneering thinker in systematically introducing Western value investing into the Chinese context.
Li Lu is a faithful inheritor of the Graham-Buffett-Munger value investing tradition. He believes that buying quality assets below their intrinsic value and holding long-term is the only reliable path to certain returns in an uncertain world. This conviction drove him to systematically seek undervalued quality Chinese companies when others were ignoring the China market.
Source: 李录《文明、现代化、价值投资与中国》，2020年 / 李录哥伦比亚大学演讲，2010年
Li Lu believes that to understand China's investment opportunities, one must go beyond quarterly earnings perspectives and view China's modernization process from the height of civilizational history and social system evolution. He places China's rapid economic growth against the backdrop of thousands of years of civilizational accumulation and modern humiliation, seeing China's modernization as an irreversible historical trend — an insight that allowed him to see value when others were pessimistic.
Source: 李录《文明、现代化、价值投资与中国》，2020年
Inheriting Graham's core doctrine, Li Lu believes buying at prices far below intrinsic value is the best strategy for defending against all uncertainties. This principle allowed him to maintain above-market long-term returns in China's extremely volatile market environment.
Source: 李录哥伦比亚大学商学院演讲，2010年
Li Lu insists on only investing in companies and industries he deeply understands, preferring to miss a hundred opportunities rather than risk outside his circle of competence. Himalaya Capital's concentrated investment strategy is a direct expression of this belief: concentrated holdings, long holding periods, and extremely low turnover rates.
Source: 李录喜马拉雅资本年度致投资者信系列
When making country or regional investment judgments, first assess their modernization trajectory from the height of civilizational history and institutional evolution, then seek specific value investment opportunities within this framework, avoiding short-term political noise that obscures long-term trends.
In 2003, Li Lu discovered BYD in the early stage of China's economic takeoff, not because he read quarterly reports, but based on the civilizational perspective of China's manufacturing transformation and energy revolution — judging that BYD's electric vehicle strategy would explode along with China's modernization. This judgment proved correct.
Before deciding to buy, conduct exhaustive research on the target company: industry structure, competitive moats, management, financial quality, intrinsic value estimation — every item must have your own first-hand judgment, not relying on second-hand analysis.
Before buying BYD, Li Lu personally visited Shenzhen to deeply investigate BYD's battery production processes and management team. This first-hand research gave him enough confidence to recommend BYD to Munger when Munger was generally skeptical of Chinese companies.
Buy only a very small number of companies you deeply understand with extremely strong competitive moats, hold concentrated positions long-term, use compound interest time to replace frequent trading, and achieve maximum investment returns with minimum decisions.
In some years, Himalaya Capital's position concentration exceeded 80% in a single or very few stocks — completely opposite to most institutional funds' diversification strategies — but in the long run this strategy delivered stable above-market returns.
As a 1989 exile, Li Lu paradoxically became the person in the Western world most capable of accurately judging China's modernization investment value. This paradox comes from his simultaneous deep understanding of Chinese civilization and systematic training in Western value investing.
Traditional investment theory holds that diversification reduces risk, but Li Lu believes that high concentration within the circle of competence is actually safer than diversification outside it — the true risk is holding assets you don't understand.
1989-1996
Rebuilding identity from political exile, receiving value investing education at Columbia University
Fled from Tiananmen in 1989 to the US, entered Columbia University through outstanding performance in extreme hardship, simultaneously completed degrees in economics, law, and business, and received training in Graham's value investing tradition.
1997-2003
Building value investing framework, seeking undervalued assets in US and Asian markets
Founded Himalaya Capital in 1997, made contrarian investments during the Asian financial crisis, accumulated first batch of institutional investors, and established a research-driven investment methodology.
2003-2015
Systematically studying the Chinese market, discovering and investing in quality Chinese assets like BYD
Discovered and deeply invested in BYD, introduced the opportunity to Munger, facilitating Berkshire's investment in BYD. Became Munger's most trusted China investment advisor.
2015-至今
Systematizing and civilizing Chinese value investing, writing books to spread value investing practice in China
Published Civilization, Modernization, Value Investing, and China, sparking a value investing education wave in China, becoming the most important evangelist for bringing the Graham-Munger tradition to China.
Context: Born in Tangshan in 1966, parents persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, survived the 1976 Tangshan earthquake — extreme childhood experiences shaped his deep thinking about social institutions and human civilization
Decision: Persisted in education despite adversity, using education as a path to changing destiny
Reasoning: Without resources or background, knowledge is the only reliable capital
Outcome: Entered Peking University's Physics Department, became an elite student
Lesson: The most difficult childhoods often nurture the most profound thinkers
Context: As a student leader at Peking University, participated in organizing the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement; after June 4th was placed on a wanted list and eventually fled to the United States
Decision: Persisted in ideals under extreme danger, afterward chose to rebuild life in the United States
Reasoning: Facing injustice, standing up is necessary; after exile, one must find a way to continue working for a better world
Outcome: Became one of China's most widely influential political exiles, later turned to capital markets to change the world
Lesson: Political failure does not mean mission failure — changing battlefields can equally advance civilizational progress
Context: Entered Columbia University as an exile, simultaneously pursuing degrees in economics, law, and business, where he encountered the Graham value investing tradition
Decision: Systematically studied value investing, making it the new direction for his life
Reasoning: Value investing is not merely a money-making tool but a philosophical system about how to make rational decisions in an uncertain world
Outcome: Became a systematic inheritor of the Graham-Munger tradition
Lesson: Truly great philosophical systems can find their most suitable inheritors in the most unexpected places
Context: After graduating from Columbia University, founded Himalaya Capital Management, focused on Asian value investing
Decision: Gave up more stable career paths to independently found a value investing fund
Reasoning: Only by managing his own fund could he truly make decisions based on value investing principles rather than market pressure
Outcome: Established a value investment fund known for deep research and concentrated holdings
Lesson: Investment autonomy matters more than scale — only investment decisions free from external pressure constraints can truly implement long-term value investing
Context: When BYD was not yet on mainstream investors' radar, discovered its strategic positioning in batteries and electric vehicles through deep research, and made heavy investments
Decision: Against the backdrop of China's manufacturing transformation, judged BYD to be a rare Chinese company with global competitiveness
Reasoning: BYD's battery technology moat, plus founder Wang Chuanfu's engineering spirit, plus China's labor cost advantage, formed an unreplicable competitive moat
Outcome: BYD later became one of the world's largest new energy vehicle companies; Himalaya Capital achieved tens of times return
Lesson: Civilizational perspective investment judgment often identifies truly historic opportunities better than financial models
Context: After his own deep research and heavy investment in BYD, introduced this opportunity to his mentor Charlie Munger, facilitating Berkshire Hathaway's historic $232 million investment in BYD in 2008
Decision: Proactively shared the investment opportunity, even though it might dilute his own excess returns
Reasoning: Building deeper trust with Munger, and bringing long-term institutional investors to quality Chinese companies, outweighs the value of keeping an exclusive investment opportunity
Outcome: Berkshire's investment in BYD became a classic case in value investing history; Li Lu received Munger's highest trust endorsement
Lesson: In investing, relational capital sometimes has more long-term value than informational advantage
Context: Invited to speak at Columbia Business School, systematically articulating the applicability and practical path of value investing in the Chinese market — became a classic text in the value investing circle
Decision: Openly shared his investment philosophy and methodology, expanding the influence of value investing in China
Reasoning: Value investing needs to find more practitioners in China; public education is an important way to promote the maturation of China's capital market
Outcome: The speech was widely disseminated and became a milestone document in China's value investing education
Lesson: True value propagators don't hoard; open sharing paradoxically builds deeper intellectual influence
Context: Systematically compiled years of lectures and thinking into a book, articulating from a civilizational history perspective the investment significance of China's modernization and the universal applicability of value investing
Decision: Used the writing of a book to connect value investing with the proposition of China's modernization
Reasoning: China's modernization is the most significant investment theme of the 21st century, requiring a serious intellectual framework to understand it
Outcome: The book sparked a value investing learning wave in China; Li Lu's influence expanded to hundreds of thousands of Chinese investors
Lesson: Connecting investment philosophy with larger historical narratives can reach a wider audience and produce more lasting influence
The core text from Li Lu's Graham-system training at Columbia University. He has explicitly stated in multiple speeches that this book is the theoretical foundation of his investment philosophy and recommends it first to all beginning value investors.
Munger's collected thought work; Li Lu recommends this book in all public speeches, considering Munger's latticework of mental models as the highest expression of value investing and rational decision-making, and an important textual foundation for his intellectual exchange with Munger.
Graham's foundational work; Li Lu systematically studied this book at Columbia University and repeatedly cited Graham's discussions of intrinsic value and margin of safety in his own writings — the fundamental textual source of his investment methodology.
Li Lu's own book, systematically articulating the relationship between value investing philosophy and China's modernization proposition. The most important primary source for understanding Li Lu's thought system and a milestone work bringing the Graham-Munger tradition into the Chinese context.
Munger's influence on Li Lu is extremely profound, not only in investment methodology teaching but also in shaping the latticework of mental models and civilizational perspective
Systematically received Graham's value investing system through Columbia University education — this is the theoretical foundation of Li Lu's entire investment philosophy
Buffett's cases of transforming Graham's theory into real asset management practice are the most important reference for Li Lu's implementation of value investing
Through books, speeches, and real-world cases, Li Lu influenced a generation of Chinese value investors, successfully bringing the Graham-Munger tradition into China's capital market
Munger called Li Lu the person who most resembled a young Buffett; the two have a cross-cultural value investing inheritance relationship
In my judgment, Li Lu is the outstanding investor I know. He is one of the most able analysts I have met.
李录是中国价值投资思想体系最重要的传播者，他的著作将成为中国资本市场走向成熟的重要思想参考。
