Buffett's mistake

Like February every year, the Cult of Buffett (of which I'm an old member) waits eagerly for the annual letter that the grand old man of investments writes to the shareholders of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway. Much of the letter is a commentary on interesting aspects of the operations and financing of Berkshire's subsidiaries and companies in which it has large stakes. These include some of the biggest names in world business like Coca Cola, Apple, American Express, Lubrizol and Bank of America. It also includes giant companies like BNSF and General Re which we in India are not familiar with, as well as other significant businesses like Precision Castparts and International Metalworking. Berkshire is a unique entity in the business world in having such a galaxy of busine