Yeah, this has been one of the bigger whiffs for Buffett (though Pampered Chef seems to curiously bother people more). He was quite ecstatic about it in 1998. He highlighted this acquisition, and clearly expected great things from it:

" EJA's growth has been explosive: In 1997, it accounted for 31% of all corporate jets ordered in the world. Nonetheless, Rich and I believe that the potential of fractional ownership has barely been scratched. If many thousands of owners find it sensible to own 100% of a plane -- which must be used 350-400 hours annually if it's to make economic sense -- there must be a large multiple of that number for whom fractional ownership works.

In addition to being a terrific executive, Rich is fun. Like most of our managers, he has no economic need whatsoever to work. Rich spends his time at EJA because it's his baby -- and he wants to see how far he can take it. We both already know the answer, both literally and figuratively: to the ends of the earth."


Now Berkshire could still redeem its investment. After all, NetJets does seem to command the industry. Unfortunately, it's commanding a not-very-profitable industry. The results would have to be absolutely outstanding from this point to account for all the lost time on that amount of invested capital, however.