While Warren Buffett is a hugely successful investor, he isn't infallible. Berkshire Hathaway passed on the opportunity to bet on Amazon when it was just a start-up in 1994, and again when the stock went public in 1997 at just $18 per share ($0.075, adjusted for stock splits). Buffett finally pulled the trigger in 2019 and now owns roughly $1.7 billion in shares.