Berkshire Hathaway officials tell the AP they believe a Taiwan tycoon's accusations against Chinese electric car maker BYD are "unfounded."
Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. has gone to court in Shenzhen, China with an intellectual property lawsuit against BYD.
Hon Hai is described as the "world's largest contract electronics manufacturer." It makes Apple's iPhone as well as Sony's PlayStation 3 and Vaio laptops.
Hon Hai's top executive, Terry Gou,(number 334 on the Forbes ranking of global billionaires), criticized Warren Buffett in an interview with the Chinese-language Economic Daily News in Taiwan:
"Didn't Buffett proclaim that he would only invest in companies that are trustworthy? They why did he invest in BYD which stole commercial secrets from (HonHai affiliate) Foxconn?"
BYD denies the accusation: "This is the malicious attack of a rival. For the time being we will ignore it."
Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy Holdings bought a 10 percent stake in BYD last fall, and Buffett was featured in a Fortune Magazine cover story about BYD's efforts to bring an electric car to world markets, including the United States.
