I just read about Duan Yongping's journey, and honestly, there's a lot to learn from this guy. If you don't know who he is, he's basically the 'Chinese Buffett' in the investment world—someone who went from building business empires to becoming one of the most successful investors in the market.

Duan Yongping's story is quite interesting. At 28, he took over a bankrupt factory with losses of millions of yuan and turned it into a production machine. Then he founded BuBuGao, which became a giant with annual revenues of 10 billion yuan. But here’s the key point: at 40, he decided to retire and move to the United States to focus on investing. That’s something many entrepreneurs never do.

What really caught my attention was his lunch with Buffett in 2006—he paid $620,100 for that opportunity and was the first Chinese investor to achieve it. During that lunch, he recommended to Buffett that he buy Apple. Duan Yongping had already seen something others hadn’t.

His main investment moves speak for themselves. In 2001, when NetEase was facing legal issues and its stock dropped to $0.8, he invested heavily. That $2 million investment turned into over $100 million. Then there’s Apple—he started accumulating in 2011 when the market value was under $300 billion. Today, Apple makes up 70.50% of his U.S. portfolio, valued at over $10 billion. With Moutai, he simply buys and waits—he sees it as a 'long-term bond.' In 2024, he took advantage of Pinduoduo’s decline to accumulate more shares, making it his fifth-largest position.

But the most valuable thing isn’t the numbers, but the philosophy behind them. Duan Yongping says things that seem simple but most ignore. First, see where the fish are—if Market A has been stuck at 3,000 points for years while the U.S. market keeps rising, why stay? The right direction matters more than effort.

Second, pick your stocks carefully and then let time do its work. We’re not talking about active trading but holding a stock for 10, 15, or 20 years. He himself has two accounts: one for value investing where Apple has gone 14 years untouched and multiplied his investment hundreds of times, and another for speculation where he makes just a little profit. The message is clear: speculation is like flipping a coin, 50-50.

He also emphasizes that buying stocks is buying real companies. If the company has good products, a solid business model, and visionary founders, why be afraid? That’s why during Tencent’s fall in 2022-2023, he bought more, not less. In November 2023, he bought 200,000 Tencent ADR shares at around $41 each.

Investing requires faith, he says. Don’t be influenced by market noise. Duan Yongping simplifies his investment decisions—he doesn’t make 20 decisions in a year, he makes 20 in a lifetime. Every move is deliberate, not impulsive. And when something doesn’t work, he reflects on the strategy, not on how to improve his trading techniques.

There’s something I especially liked: buy where no one is looking, sell where the crowd is. When asked why he had the courage to buy NetEase when it was falling to $1 while he had $4 per share in cash, he replied that if someone sells you something worth $10 for $1, what courage do you need? That’s seeing value where others see panic.

Finally, Duan Yongping believes that destiny turns you into what you want to be. If you believe in value investing, eventually you’ll become a value investor. If you keep speculating, you’ll remain a speculator. That’s why he wanted to have lunch with Buffett—because they both practice the same and both get results.

The overall lesson here is that long-term investing in solid companies, patience, and discipline work. There are no shortcuts. Duan Yongping proves it with his estimated net worth of over $30 billion. If any of this resonates with you, it’s probably because you know he’s right.