“Stock God” BuffettgoldThe Daily Journal, a newspaper and software company long-running partner and Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Munger, has halved its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba ADR.
Dragged down by this news, Alibaba ADR (BABA-US) fell 1.86% to $101.55 a share on Monday, down as much as 15.64% year-to-date and down more than 68% from its October 2020 peak.
A regulatory filing by the Daily Journal on Monday showed the company held 300,000 American depositary shares in Alibaba at the end of March, halving its total holding at the end of last year (602,060).
The Daily Journal’s current Alibaba holdings are valued at regarding $31 million.
Meng, who has been chairman of the Daily Journal since 1977, overseeing the company’s portfolio, announced his departure in late March.
Despite the unfavorable year of 2021 for Chinese concept stocks, and many business celebrities such as Doubleline Capital founder Jeffrey Gundlach named China as uninvestable, the Daily Journal continued to overweight Alibaba ADR last year.
Menger attended the Daily Journal’s annual general meeting in February and expressed his optimism regarding investing in China. “In terms of Alibaba and undisclosed leverage, companies don’t mind some financing balance, Chinese companies are stronger relative to competitors and cheaper than U.S. companies, and I’m more comfortable than Buffett in terms of investing in China,” he said. “
Whether Menger is no longer optimistic regarding investing in China is unclear, Menger said through an assistant who declined to comment on the Daily Journal’s stake in Alibaba.
