Every investor makes mistakes — that is not up for debate.
The trick is to make fewer of them over time and to ensure that each mistake costs less.
Michael Dell said, “In avoiding failure, you deprive yourself of a great teacher.” Failure, painful as it may be in the moment, has a way of sticking with us far longer than our victories.
It sharpens judgment, creates discipline, and reminds us of something too many on Wall Street forget: investing is not about perfection. It is about progress.
I keep a book of mistakes.
Every losing trade or investment decision that goes wrong gets written down. I note what I was thinking at the time, what I missed, and what lesson I should carry forward.
One of my older mistake notebooks.
After more than 40 years of doing this, I still make mistakes.
The difference is that today there are fewer, and they cost less than they once did. The ability to learn and improve is the only real edge we can hope to build as investors.
Even the greatest investor of all time still makes mistakes.
Warren Buffett has compounded wealth at a rate almost no one else in history has matched. He bought his first stock at age eleven.
By the time he turned 85, he had been investing for seventy-four years. If anyone could have earned the right to “mistake-free” status, it was Buffett.
And yet, a decade ago, he proved that no one is immune.
Kraft Heinz Breakup Proves Even Legends Make Mistakes
In 2015, Buffett and his partners at 3G Capital orchestrated the merger of Kraft and Heinz.
The idea looked brilliant on paper: Combine some of the most iconic names in packaged food, apply cost controls, strip out inefficiencies, and use the cash flow to reward shareholders.
But it didn’t work out that way.
Consumers changed faster than the company could.
Inflation ate into pricing power. Shoppers gravitated to fresher, healthier options. Private labels stole market share. And some of Kraft Heinz’s most beloved brands — from Oscar Mayer hot dogs to Kraft Singles — were neglected in the name of cost-cutting.
Now, 10 years later, Kraft Heinz has announced that it will split into two separate companies.
One will focus on condiments and sauces, including Heinz ketchup and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will house slower-growing grocery staples like Oscar Mayer and Lunchables.
Heinz Ketchup: The Iconic Global Brand.
The stock is down, and the company is under pressure. Buffett himself admitted he was wrong “in a couple of ways” about Kraft Heinz.
At the end of 2017, Berkshire’s stake in Kraft Heinz was valued at about $17 billion. By this summer, that value had been marked down to $8.4 billion — nearly $9 billion gone.
Even the Oracle of Omaha has to swallow losses when things do not go as planned.
But here is the bigger picture. Kraft Heinz was just a sliver of Berkshire’s empire. According to Berkshire’s second-quarter 2025 13F filing, its stock portfolio is worth more than $250 billion.
In other words, the entire Kraft Heinz loss is little more than a rounding error in the context of Berkshire’s vast holdings.
What lesson should Main Street investors take from this?
Mistakes are part of the process. Buffett did not stop being the greatest investor of all time because of Kraft Heinz.
Berkshire Hathaway still owns world-class businesses and continues to compound capital at an extraordinary pace.
One error, even a multibillion-dollar one, does not erase decades of disciplined investing.
Size and reputation do not exempt anyone from the need to adapt. Food giants across the globe are restructuring.
Kellogg split its cereal business from its snacks business in 2023. Keurig Dr Pepper recently bought a European coffee chain with an eye to separating it later.
Consumer tastes shift. Capital must shift with them.
Every disappointment plants the seeds of opportunity. Kraft Heinz splitting into two companies could be the very move that unlocks value for shareholders.
Smaller, more focused businesses often outperform sprawling conglomerates weighed down by complexity. Management teams can direct resources where they matter most.
Investors can decide which side of the split they prefer, rather than being forced to own both.
That is the beauty of capitalism. It allows mistakes to be corrected. It forces underperformers to change. And it rewards those who adapt.
Buffett’s Endurance Shows Perfection Is Not Required
Think about it. Buffett overpaid for Kraft Heinz. He admitted it. The market punished the stock.
But out of this break-up may come two stronger businesses, each with a clearer mission and leaner structure. Consumers will get better products. Shareholders will get a fairer shake.
The lesson is never to assume yesterday’s model will work tomorrow; it will be reinforced for all of us.
I look back on my own mistakes — buying too early, selling too late, and trusting management that turned out not to be up to the job. Each one stung, cost me money, but made me a better investor.
The same holds for Buffett. And if it holds for him, it should encourage you.
No matter where you are on your investing journey, you are going to make errors. You are going to pick a company that does not work out. You are going to be blindsided by a change in consumer habits or technology.
That is not failure. That is tuition. The only real failure is refusing to learn.
The stock market is still the greatest wealth-creating machine the world has ever seen. Capital will continue flowing to new ideas, and entrepreneurs will continue reshaping industries.
Investors who stay humble, patient, and willing to admit when they are wrong will come out ahead.
Mistakes will be made. That is a given. What matters is whether you let them crush your confidence or strengthen your discipline.
After 74 years of investing, Warren Buffett made a mistake with Kraft Heinz. He admitted it and moved on.
He is still investing today, while Berkshire earns billions every year from companies like Apple. That should tell you everything.
The true secret to investing is not perfection; it is endurance.
If you have questions, you can send them to me at [email protected].
And follow me on X here for daily updates.
Regards,
Charles Mizrahi
Prosperity Insider
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