Duan Yongping
Duan Yongping is a Chinese entrepreneur and investor, born in 1961 in Nanchang, Jiangxi, who graduated from Zhejiang University in 1983. He built the Subor and BBK brands, co-founded Guangdong BBK Electronics in 1995, turned to investing in 2001 and in 2006 won a charity lunch with Warren BuffettWarren BuffettWarren Buffett is an American investor who took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 and served as its chairman and chief executive from 1970; he handed the chief executive role to Greg Abel on January 1, 2026 and became chairman emeritus, while remaining a director, on September 18, 2026.Open the full entry. He has made large donations to Zhejiang University, and from 2026 he publicly said he was buying shares in Pop MartPop MartPop Mart is a Beijing-based collectible toy company known for blind boxes and character-based products, including THE MONSTERS (home of Labubu) and MOLLY. Founded by Wang Ning, it opened its first store in Beijing in 2010 and listed in Hong Kong in December 2020. Its 2025 revenue was 37.12 billion yuan; in the third quarter of 2026 its revenue fell 45–50% year on year.Open the full entry.
Contents11 sections
Key facts
March 1961Birth in Nanchang
Duan Yongping was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi, in March 1961.[1]
1978–1983Education and Early Career
In 1978 he entered the Department of Radio at Zhejiang University; after a year off, he graduated in 1983 and was assigned to a state-owned electron tube factory in Beijing, later moving to Guangdong.[2]
1995Co-founding BBK
In 1995 he co-founded Guangdong BBK Electronics in Dongguan as general manager and chairman.[1]
2001Move to the United States and Investing
In 2001 he moved to the United States and turned to investing.[1]
2006Winning the Buffett Charity Lunch
In 2006 he paid $620,100 for a charity lunch with Warren Buffett, a record at the time and nearly double the previous year’s winning bid.[3]
He was the first Chinese person to win the lunch. Speaking of it later, he said, “It wasn’t a business deal, so you can’t say it was a loss or a gain.”[4]
2006Joint Gift to Zhejiang University
In 2006 he and NetEase founder Ding Lei jointly gave $40 million to Zhejiang University.[2]
2022–2023Major Gifts to Zhejiang University
He gave Zhejiang University 270 million yuan for buildings in 2022 and more than 1 billion yuan at the end of 2023.[5]
October 2025Gift of Moutai Shares
On October 31, 2025, he gave 10,000 Kweichow Moutai shares, worth about 15 million yuan, to a university in Jiangxi for a fund in his parents’ names, saying the dividends could be spent since market value is temporary.[6]
April–July 2026: Buying Pop Mart Shares
On April 9, 2026, he posted on Xueqiu, likening his new Pop Mart position to opening an insurance business; on April 14 he confirmed he had been building it by selling put options, and on May 7 he said he had switched his China Shenhua holdings into Pop Mart.[7]
On July 6, 2026, his Pop Mart holding rose from about 91.27 million shares (6.85%) to about 102 million shares (7.65%). Replying to a follower on July 23, he said he had only just started buying Pop Mart and would most likely not sell within ten years.[8]
Companies and Investments
He built the Subor and BBK brands and took stakes in OPPO, vivo, NetEase and Tencent; after 2011 he held large positions in Apple and Kweichow Moutai.[5]
Sources
- No shortage of tips at Buffett lunch (opens in a new window)
- 最壕校友，段永平又捐浙江大学10个亿 (opens in a new window) (in Chinese)
- Chart of the Day: The Chinese Tycoons Who Won a Buffett Lunch (opens in a new window)
- Buffett guests realize there is no free lunch (opens in a new window)
- 刚刚，浙江大学官宣：再获杰出校友大额捐赠，合计10亿+！ (opens in a new window) (in Chinese)
- 段永平回应向江西一高校捐赠1万股茅台股票：他们每年花分红就好，市值只是暂时的 (opens in a new window) (in Chinese)
- 段永平加仓，“把神华都换了泡泡玛特” (opens in a new window) (in Chinese)
- 段永平：十年内大概率不会卖泡泡玛特 (opens in a new window) (in Chinese)