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Warren Buffett’s failures: 15 investing mistakes he regrets

Warren Buffett is quite possibly the greatest investor of all time. For decades, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway — nicknamed the "Oracle of Omaha" — has shown his ability to read Wall Street like a book. He has a net worth of nearly $82 billion, according to Forbes, making him one of the richest people on the planet.

Despite his investing prowess, there have been a few Warren Buffett mistakes over the years. Unlike some executives who try to pass the blame to an underling, however, Buffett owns his errors and assumes full responsibility when he fails to deliver to shareholders.

If you're trying to sharpen your investing game, you might learn a lot from Buffett's losses.

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Take a look at these 15 Warren Buffett failures to see what went wrong and what you can learn from the Oracle's hard-earned wisdom.

Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.Lacy O'Toole | CNBC

Buying Berkshire Hathaway

In a 2010 interview with Becky Quick on CNBC, Warren Buffett said the dumbest stock he ever bought was — drum roll, please — Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett explained that he first invested in Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 when it was a failing textile company. He thought he would make a profit when more mills closed, so he loaded up on the stock. Later, the firm tried to chisel Buffett out of more money. A spiteful Buffett bought control of the company, fired the manager and tried to keep the textile business running for another 20 years. Buffett estimated that this vindictive move cost him $200 billion.

The investment advice here is not to let emotions factor into financial decisions.

Purchasing Waumbec Textile Company

Despite regretting the purchase of failing textile company Berkshire Hathaway in 1962, Buffett did the same thing 13 years later, when he purchased Waumbec Mills — another New England textile company.

"The purchase price was a bargain based on the assets we received and the projected synergies with Berkshire's existing textile business," Buffett wrote in his 2014 shareholders letter.

Admitting his mistake, Buffett revealed his decision to buy Waumbec was a terrible one, as the mill had to be shuttered not too many years after Berkshire acquired it in 1975. The chief lesson from Buffett's poor investment in Waumbec is to learn from your mistakes. When making investments, if at first, you don't succeed, move on to a new strategy.

Investing in Tesco

Berkshire Hathaway owned 415 million shares of U.K.-based grocer Tesco at the end of 2012. The firm sold some stock but remained heavily invested. In 2014, the grocer overstated its profits and shares tumbled.

In his 2014 letter to shareholders, Buffett said concerns about Tesco management motivated his initial sale of stock, which resulted in a $43 million profit. Unfortunately, he didn't move quickly on the rest.

"An attentive investor, I'm embarrassed to report, would have sold Tesco shares earlier. I made a big mistake with this investment by dawdling," Buffett wrote. He admitted the move cost the company a $444 million after-tax loss. The lesson from this piece of Warren Buffett history is to make decisions promptly.

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