Billionaire Warren Buffett reveals his worst investing mistake, with CNBC's Becky Quick.
In 1962, Buffett started to buy into a New England textile business called “Berkshire Hathaway”. In 1964, after agreeing to buy Buffett’s shares for $11.50, Berkshire management at the time sent Buffett an official letter offering him $11 3/8. The difference of one eighth of a dollar got Buffett mad and just to make a point he ended up buying all the Berkshire Hathaway shares eventually.
That was the biggest mistake in his investing career, according to Buffett himself. For in the next 20 years, Buffett had to keep on pumping money back into the textile business, trying to make it work, until he finally had to shut down the textile business completely.
A few years later, he bought into insurance businesses and immediately he found his launch pad for his next leapfrog jump.
Instead of investing in textile business, if he had invested in insurance businesses to begin with, Berkshire Hathaway would be twice as large as it is now.
The mistake cost him about $200 billion in his company's fortune, according to Buffett.
In 1962, Buffett started to buy into a New England textile business called “Berkshire Hathaway”. In 1964, after agreeing to buy Buffett’s shares for $11.50, Berkshire management at the time sent Buffett an official letter offering him $11 3/8. The difference of one eighth of a dollar got Buffett mad and just to make a point he ended up buying all the Berkshire Hathaway shares eventually.
That was the biggest mistake in his investing career, according to Buffett himself. For in the next 20 years, Buffett had to keep on pumping money back into the textile business, trying to make it work, until he finally had to shut down the textile business completely.
A few years later, he bought into insurance businesses and immediately he found his launch pad for his next leapfrog jump.
Instead of investing in textile business, if he had invested in insurance businesses to begin with, Berkshire Hathaway would be twice as large as it is now.
The mistake cost him about $200 billion in his company's fortune, according to Buffett.
