Twenty-one years ago, Li Lu was a student leader of the Tiananmen Square protests. Now a hedge fund manager, he is in line to become a successor to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway.

Li, 44 years old, has emerged as a leading candidate to run a chunk of Berkshire's $100bn (€76.7bn) portfolio, stemming from a close friendship with Charlie Munger, Berkshire's 86-year-old vice chairman. In an interview, Munger revealed that Li was likely to become one of the top Berkshire investment officials. "In my mind, it's a foregone conclusion," Munger said.