Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday that it has exited its stake in BYD Co., the battery and electric-vehicle maker in which Warren Buffett’s conglomerate made a high-profile early investment in 2008. The filing, which did not comment on motives, shows the long-running position has been pared to zero, closing one of the most discussed ties between a major U.S. investor and a leading Chinese technology company.

The original Berkshire purchase of roughly $230 million in BYD shares nearly two decades ago produced outsized returns as BYD grew into one of the world’s largest producers of electric vehicles and batteries. The exit comes at a moment of rising investor caution about China, where shifting regulatory priorities, industrial policy and heightened U.S.-China tensions have complicated valuations and foreign capital flows.

Market participants said the filing crystallizes a broader reassessment. “This isn’t just about one stock,” said a London-based portfolio manager who requested anonymity to discuss client flows. “It’s a signal to institutional investors that even the most legendary long-term holder is willing to take gains and reset exposure as the geopolitical and industrial context changes.”

Shares of BYD slipped in Asian trading following the filing as traders weighed the prospect of further foreign selling and the symbolic weight of Berkshire’s departure. BYD remains a core player in the electric-vehicle ecosystem, supplying completed vehicles and key battery components to a global market that is expanding but also becoming more competitive and margin-sensitive. Investors will be watching BYD’s cost of capital and investor base as it contends with intensified competition from both Chinese rivals and Western automakers accelerating EV rollouts.

Beyond market ripples, the move has policy and capital-flow implications. Foreign direct and portfolio investment into Chinese tech and industrial firms has ebbed at times over the past several years amid Beijing’s regulatory interventions and Washington’s restrictions on certain technology transfers. Analysts say Berkshire’s sale could reinforce calls in policy circles from both the U.S. and allied markets for diversified sourcing of critical technologies such as batteries and semiconductors.

Berkshire, which has rarely offered public explanations for discrete portfolio moves, has in the past framed investing decisions in long-term terms. The BYD trade may instead reflect a pragmatic reallocation: locking in decades of gains, redeploying capital into U.S. businesses or shielding shareholders from concentrated country risk. For global investors, the episode underscores the tension between chasing faster-growing markets and the governance, political and market-structure risks that can accompany them.

For BYD, the strategic calculus remains anchored in execution—scaling production, cutting costs and winning share in an increasingly crowded global market. For investors and policymakers, Berkshire’s exit sharpens a debate that has been building for years: how to balance the commercial opportunities in China’s technology and industrial champions against the political and strategic realities that now shape global capital allocation.