At Berkshire Hathaway General Meeting, Charlie Munger Apologizes For Not Buying Google And Wal-Mart

Warren Buffett and his right-hand man Charlie Munger delivered Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) shareholders a nearly 2-million-percent return over half a century period. Yet despite a seven-digit return, Berkshire's vice chairman Munger still feels it necessary to apologize to investors for not doing more.

According to Yahoo! Finance, Munger acknowledged during Berkshire Hathaway's annual general meeting over the weekend the company's mistake in missing out on technology stocks. Back when the internet was beginning to gain traction, Munger said he and his team were "probably smart enough" to be able to envision the long-term prospects of Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL. Yet at the same time, no one was "smart enough to do it."

Munger emphasized he and his team were not technology investors at the time, and it is "a good idea to not play where the other people are better."

"I would say that we failed you there," Munger also said.

Second Mistake: Wal-Mart

While sticking to the topic of mistakes and missed opportunities, Munger also explained the firm's failure to invest in Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT earlier than it did.

Berkshire bought a stake in Wal-Mart in the second quarter of 2005, but the firm didn't invest prior to that and "blew" missed opportunities.

Not Yet A Mistake But Could Be

Finally, Buffett himself acknowledged that his investment in International Business Machines Corp. IBM could prove to be a mistake — although it isn't one just yet.

To this, Buffett merely said that "it's harder to predict."