Self-Published·27 FEB 2009
Buffett's 2008 Letter Spends Three Pages Telling Shareholders What He Got Wrong
Buffett doesn't apologize for the loss. He apologizes for the analysis. Those are different things and most CEOs conflate them.
Reproduction of page 3 of the Berkshire Hathaway 2008 Letter to Shareholders, dated 27 February 2009 — the section where Buffett enumerates his errors of the year.
Excerpt · In Warren Buffett's own words
I made some errors of omission, sucking my thumb when new facts came in that should have caused me to re-examine my thinking and promptly take action.
Furthermore, I made some real doozies. Without urging from Charlie or anyone else, I bought a large amount of ConocoPhillips stock when oil and gas prices were near their peak. I in no way anticipated the dramatic fall in energy prices that occurred in the last half of the year. I still believe the odds are good that oil sells far higher in the future than the current $40-$50 price. But so far I have been dead wrong.
The daily letter · Free
This edition is for members — but the daily letter is free.
One real corporate email, and the lesson it teaches, in your inbox every weekday morning. Free. Unsubscribe in one click.
How this surfaced
- Source type
- Self-Published
- Case / record
- Berkshire Hathaway 2008 Annual Report
- Citation
- Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders, dated 27 February 2009
- Date authored
- February 27, 2009
- License
- Publicly issued by the author
- Original
- View the primary source →
More from Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett ·Berkshire Hathaway ·1 MAR 2010
Hold Expensive Cash So You Can Be the Buyer in a Crisis
Liquidity is a strategic weapon disguised as a boring balance sheet item — its real return shows up only when everyone else runs out.
Anthony Levandowski & Suzy Sammons ·Uber ·28 MAR 2017
Levandowski and Uber Coordinate Messaging Days Before His Firing
This internal email captures Anthony Levandowski, at the center of the most significant trade-secret lawsuit in autonomous-vehicle history, calmly dividing talking points with Uber colleagues just weeks before he was pushed out of the company.
Travis Kalanick & David Drummond ·Uber / Google ·7 MAR 2015
When Your Partner Stops Taking Meetings, Believe the Silence
A calendar tells you more about a partnership than any press release ever will.
Michael Rapino & David Marcus & Tara Traub & Mark Yovich & Michael Wichser ·Live Nation Entertainment / Ticketmaster ·22 AUG 2022
When a Customer Calls Your Fee Structure a Problem, Listen Fast
The moment a client's manager whispers 'double dipping,' you have minutes to build a clear answer — or you have a narrative crisis.