Li Lu - Biography

Biography

Li Lu was born and grew up in Tangshan, China. He was a survivor of 1976 Tangshan earthquake. In 1985, he went to Nanjing University, majored in Physics but later transferred to Economics. In 1989, he participated in the Tiananmen Square student protests and became one of the student leaders. He helped organize the students and participated in a hunger strike. He fled the PRC through Operation Yellowbird.

After the crackdown of the movement, he left China and went to study at Columbia University. In 1990, he published a book about his experience in China titled Moving the Mountain: My Life in China (ISBN 0-399-13545-6). The book was the basis of a 1994 feature-film documentary, Moving the Mountain, produced by Trudie Styler and directed by Michael Apted, which probed the origins of the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square and the consequences of the movement in the lives of several of the movement's student leaders.

Li graduated from Columbia receiving three degrees simultaneously: a B.A. in Economics, a M.B.A. and a J.D. in 1996.

Li was inspired to get into banking after hearing Warren Buffett, a Columbia alumnus, give a lecture at Columbia in 1993. Upon graduation, Li Lu worked in an investment bank until late 1997, when he founded Himalaya Capital Management. From 1998 to 2004, he managed both a hedge fund and a venture capital fund. His fund suffered a 19% percent loss in 1998 from the Asian Financial Crisis. In late 2004, he transformed the hedge fund into a long only investment vehicle, LL Investment Partners, LP, which is currently focused on global investment opportunities. Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and a long-time partner of the legendary investor Warren Buffett, is one of investors of his fund, and a “mentor and good friend” (in Li Lu’s own words). Li Lu has been known as the man who introduced the Chinese battery and auto maker BYD Company to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett. He is an informal advisor to BYD. His LL Investment Partners owns about 2.5% of BYD.

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. Li Lu decides to stay with his own firm, and Todd Combs from Castle Point Capital Management in Greenwich, Conn possibly becomes the chief investment officer at the Berkshire Hathaway.

In May 2010, Li Lu helped to translate and publish the Chinese version of Poor Charlie’s Almanack, The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger (ISBN 978-7-208-08994-5) in China and wrote a foreword for the book.

Li was named a global leader for tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2001, and a Henry Crown fellow by the Aspen Institute in 1998. He serves on the board of directors for Knovel is a member of Council on Foreign Relations and Young Presidents' Organization.