Li Lu

Li Lu
Born	6 4, 1966
Birthplace	Tangshan, Hebei, China
Nationality	American
Occupation	Investor, businessman, philanthropist
Known for	Founder and Chairman of Himalaya Capital Management
Education	Columbia University (BA, JD, MBA)
Children	yes
Awards	World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow (2001)

Li Lu (Template:Zh; born April 6, 1966) is a Chinese-born American value investor, businessman, and philanthropist who serves as the founder and chairman of Himalaya Capital Management, a Seattle-based investment firm. His life trajectory — from surviving the devastating 1976 Tangshan earthquake as an infant, to emerging as one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, to building a multi-billion-dollar investment firm in the United States — traces one of the more remarkable personal narratives in contemporary finance. Li earned three degrees simultaneously from Columbia University, where he was introduced to the principles of value investing that would define his career. He became closely associated with the late Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, who entrusted Li with the management of a significant portion of his family's investment portfolio. In addition to his investment career, Li has been an active philanthropist, co-founding The Asian American Foundation in 2021 and making the largest individual gift in the history of Columbia Law School. As of 2026, Himalaya Capital reported an equity portfolio valued at approximately $3.23 billion.

Early Life

Li Lu was born on April 6, 1966, in Tangshan, Hebei province, China. His early childhood was marked by catastrophic tragedy: on July 28, 1976, when Li was ten years old, the Tangshan earthquake — one of the deadliest earthquakes in modern history — struck the city, killing an estimated 242,000 people. Li survived the disaster as a child, an experience that profoundly shaped his outlook on life and resilience.

Details about Li's parents and immediate family during his formative years remain limited in publicly available sources. What is documented is that Li grew up in a China that was undergoing significant political and social transformation during the late 1970s and 1980s, following the death of Mao Zedong and the beginning of the reform era under Deng Xiaoping.

Li enrolled at Nanjing University, where he was a student during the late 1980s. It was during this period that he became politically active, a path that would lead him to play a prominent role in one of the most consequential political events in modern Chinese history: the 1989 pro-democracy student protests centered in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

1989 Tiananmen Square Protests

In the spring of 1989, Li Lu emerged as one of the student leaders of the pro-democracy movement that swept through major Chinese cities, culminating in the mass demonstrations at Tiananmen Square. The protests, which called for political reform, greater transparency, and democratic freedoms, drew hundreds of thousands of participants before they were suppressed by the Chinese military on June 4, 1989.

Li's role in the protests was significant enough that it necessitated his departure from China in the aftermath of the military crackdown. He eventually made his way first to France and then to the United States, where he would begin a new chapter of his life as a student and, ultimately, as an investor and businessman. His experiences during the Tiananmen protests were documented in the 1995 documentary film The Gate of Heavenly Peace, which examined the events of 1989.

Li also authored a memoir in Chinese recounting his experiences, which was published and made available in China.

Education

After arriving in the United States, Li Lu enrolled at Columbia University in New York City, where he undertook an extraordinary academic program. He simultaneously pursued and earned three degrees: a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College, a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, all conferred in 1996.

It was at Columbia Business School that Li was introduced to the principles of value investing, an investment philosophy rooted in the teachings of Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, whose seminal work Security Analysis had been written at Columbia decades earlier. This intellectual tradition, which emphasizes purchasing securities at prices below their intrinsic value and holding them for the long term, became the foundation of Li's investment career.

Career

Founding of Himalaya Capital Management

Following his graduation from Columbia University, Li Lu entered the investment industry. He founded Himalaya Capital Management, a value-oriented investment firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The firm manages investments with a focused portfolio strategy, concentrating on a relatively small number of high-conviction positions rather than diversifying across hundreds of holdings.

Li serves as the firm's chairman and has maintained a consistent investment philosophy throughout the firm's history, emphasizing fundamental analysis, long-term holding periods, and a willingness to concentrate capital in businesses he considers to be of high quality and available at attractive valuations.

Relationship with Charlie Munger

Li Lu's career received a significant boost through his relationship with Charlie Munger, the longtime vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and investing partner of Warren Buffett. Munger became a mentor and advocate for Li, and the relationship evolved into one of the most notable partnerships in the value investing community.

Munger entrusted Li with the management of a substantial portion of his family's investment capital. According to reporting by Yahoo Finance, Munger "handed his family fortune" to Li, who subsequently grew it into approximately $400 million. Munger was quoted as saying the partnership generated "unholy good returns." The scale of this entrustment was notable; Munger, who was known for his exacting standards and skepticism, rarely delegated investment management to outside managers.

The relationship between Li and Munger also had broader implications for Berkshire Hathaway's investment activity. Li is credited with introducing Munger and, subsequently, Buffett to the Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturer BYD Company. This introduction led to Berkshire Hathaway's investment in BYD, which became one of the conglomerate's most profitable international investments.

Li's deep knowledge of the Chinese economy and business landscape proved to be a distinctive competence in his investment approach. His ability to evaluate companies in both the American and Chinese markets, informed by his bicultural background and fluency in both languages, has been a defining characteristic of Himalaya Capital's strategy.

Investment Philosophy and Strategy

Li Lu's investment philosophy is rooted in the value investing tradition he studied at Columbia University but reflects his own distinctive approach. According to analysis of his portfolio filings and public statements, Li practices a concentrated investment strategy, holding relatively few positions with high conviction.

His approach emphasizes the identification of businesses with durable competitive advantages, strong management teams, and attractive valuations. He has demonstrated a willingness to make significant additions to positions when he identifies opportunities, as illustrated by his reported addition of Crocs Inc. to the Himalaya Capital portfolio in recent filings.

As of early 2026, Himalaya Capital's 13F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed an equity portfolio valued at approximately $3.23 billion, reflecting a "characteristically focused" investment approach. The concentrated nature of the portfolio — holding positions in a limited number of companies — distinguishes Li's approach from many institutional investors who diversify more broadly.

Li has described his investment philosophy as one that avoids market fads and short-term speculation, instead focusing on the long-term compounding potential of high-quality businesses purchased at reasonable prices. This approach aligns closely with the principles articulated by Munger and Buffett, though Li has applied them with particular emphasis on opportunities in Asian markets.

Media and Public Profile

Li has maintained a relatively low public profile compared to many other prominent fund managers. He has spoken at investment conferences, including at Columbia Business School, where he has discussed his investment philosophy and approach. His profile was documented by the Asia Society, which published biographical information about him in connection with various events.

A 2010 article in the Chinese business publication China Entrepreneur provided a rare in-depth look at Li's background and investment activities as seen from a Chinese media perspective.

Personal Life

Li Lu resides in the United States and has children. He became an American citizen after emigrating from China following the Tiananmen Square protests. Beyond his investment career, Li has been active in philanthropic efforts, particularly those relating to the Asian American community and higher education.

In 2021, Li co-founded The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), an organization established to address issues facing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, including rising anti-Asian hate incidents. Li serves as chairman of the foundation.

Philanthropy

Columbia University

Li Lu has maintained strong ties with Columbia University, his alma mater, and has emerged as one of the institution's most significant benefactors. In 2025, he made a $15 million gift to Columbia Law School — the largest individual gift in the law school's history — to support the renovation of the school's library. In recognition of this gift, the renovated facility was named the Li Lu Law Library.

The Li Lu Law Library encompasses a renovated 50,000-square-foot space that was formally opened during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in December 2025. The ceremony was attended by the law school's dean and other university officials. Columbia University's magazine noted that the gift came from "Li Lu '96CC, '96LAW, '96BUS," reflecting his three simultaneous degrees. Columbia Law School described the library project as representing "the vision, planning, and execution" of a transformative renovation effort.

The Asian American Foundation

As co-founder and chairman of The Asian American Foundation, Li has been involved in efforts to support Asian American communities through funding for education, research, and advocacy programs. The foundation was established during a period of heightened concern about anti-Asian violence and discrimination in the United States.

Recognition

Li Lu has received a number of honors and distinctions over the course of his career.

In 2001, he was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, a designation given to individuals under the age of 40 who are considered to be emerging leaders in their respective fields.

In 2020, Li was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest and most prestigious honorary societies in the United States, which recognizes achievement in the arts, sciences, business, and public affairs.

Li was elected to the Columbia University Board of Trustees, alongside Alexander Navab, serving in one of the university's highest governance roles.

His life story has been documented by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History as part of its "Family Voices" project, which profiles notable individuals and their contributions to American life.

Li's biographical information is maintained in several international authority files, including the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF), the German National Library, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, reflecting his status as a public figure documented across multiple national library systems. He is also catalogued in the Social Networks and Archival Context cooperative.

Legacy

Li Lu's life and career span two distinct domains — political activism and finance — connected by a common thread of conviction and independent thinking. His experience as a student leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests placed him at the center of one of the defining political events of the late twentieth century, while his subsequent career as a value investor demonstrated an ability to channel intellectual rigor and independent judgment into financial markets.

His close association with Charlie Munger elevated his profile within the value investing community. Munger's willingness to entrust Li with a significant portion of his family's capital, and his public praise for the returns generated, positioned Li as one of the more prominent practitioners of the concentrated value investing approach in the post-Buffett era.

Li's role in introducing Berkshire Hathaway to BYD Company represented a significant contribution to the firm's international investment portfolio and illustrated the value of his cross-cultural expertise in identifying investment opportunities that might have been overlooked by Western-focused managers.

Through his philanthropic activities — particularly the founding of The Asian American Foundation and his major gift to Columbia Law School — Li has sought to address issues facing Asian American communities and to support the educational institutions that shaped his own career. His $15 million gift to Columbia Law School, resulting in the naming of the Li Lu Law Library, represents a tangible connection between his personal history as an immigrant student and his success in American finance.

As of 2026, with Himalaya Capital managing a portfolio valued at over $3 billion, Li continues to operate as an active investor, applying the concentrated, long-term investment principles that have defined his career.