--- title: Missed Out on a Winning Stock? Warren Buffett Admitted He Missed Amazon and Google, Too description: Warren Buffett missed out on investing in Google and Amazon stocks early. Here's what to learn from the legendary investor's experience. authors: - name: Marc Guberti url: https://money.com/author/marc-guberti/ bio: Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who hosts Breakthrough Success, a podcast where he teaches listeners how to grow their businesses and achieve personal transformations. at_money_since: 2024 articles: 471 covers: - Investing - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2026-11-11T15:00:20.000Z' section: Investing word_count: 468 canonical: https://money.com/warren-buffett-missed-amazon-google/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Forbes Media Centennial Celebration](https://img.money.com/2026/11/Explainer-Warren-Buffett-Misses.jpg) If you missed out on one of the stock market’s biggest winners, you’re not alone. Even Warren Buffett, former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has done it. The investor lamented multiple times about missing out on Amazon and Google’s stocks during their early days (though both companies have been seen in Berkshire’s portfolio in recent years). However, Buffett’s long-term record shows that missing out on these opportunities doesn’t preclude you from building wealth over the long term. ## What Buffett said he missed When discussing Google’s stock in 2017, Buffett said he “blew it” by not investing in the tech company early. He also said he “was too dumb to realize what was going to happen” regarding Amazon’s stock price soaring. He also [told CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/03/berkshire-hathaway-has-been-buying-shares-of-amazon-warren-buffett.html) in 2019 that he had “been an idiot for not buying” shares of Amazon. His reflections show that even the best investors can miss and wish they had made better decisions. While Berkshire started to buy shares in Amazon in 2019 for the first time, the firm recently sold off its Amazon stake. Stock of Alphabet — the parent company of Google — remains in the portfolio. This was a more recent addition, with the first Alphabet shares entering Berkshire’s portfolio in 2025. ## What worked for Buffett instead Many of Buffett's long-term wealth stems from making smart decisions about where to invest, and then holding those positions for years. Instead of following stock prices and trading in and out of positions, Buffett has been comfortable holding some stocks for multiple decades. This mentality, combined with researching many companies, helped Berkshire achieve a compounded annual gain of 19.7% return from 1965 to 2025, versus the S&P 500’s 10.5%, according to Berkshire’s 2025 annual report. ## What Berkshire owns now Although Amazon has been removed from the portfolio, Alphabet has turned into a core holding and is among Berkshire’s top five positions, though Apple comfortably holds the top spot. American Express, Coca-Cola and Bank of America are also in Berkshire’s top five positions. Buffett places a strong emphasis on financial stocks. That sector, along with consumer staples, has been a core industry that regularly shows up in his positions. He resisted tech stocks when investors were heavily investing in them leading up to the dot-com bubble, which helped him avoid much of the pain of that bubble bursting. ## Invest in what you know Buffett has long advocated for investing in what you know — not just what every other investor is pouring money into. That mentality helped him become one of the most successful investors. The more you learn about industries and companies, the better you can understand a greater range of investments. But also, a diversified portfolio can go a long way, even if you’re not familiar with every single company represented in an index or fund. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/warren-buffett-missed-amazon-google/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stocks", "item": "https://money.com/stocks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Missed Out on a Winning Stock? 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