Top 13 Biggest Mistakes That Cost Millions Of Dollars In History

Rosemary April 16, 2023 | 09:15

You have to pay the price once you make mistakes. Many had to pay expensive prices for their big mistakes in the world history.

Top 13 Biggest Mistakes That Cost Millions Of Dollars In The World History. Photo: KnowInsiders.com

Mistakes are unavoidable in human life. Every human being makes mistakes in his or her life, learns from them, and moves on. Humans are also known as the 'Statue of Mistakes'. However, if we make financial mistakes, it is difficult to recover. We have discussed some of the costly mistakes made by humans and how each mistake cost millions of dollars.

Top 13 Biggest Mistakes That Cost Millions Of Dollars In History

(Selected, recommended by KnowInsiders)

1. Lost in space

Loss: $125M

Most people misplace their sunglasses or keys, which is inconvenient and, yes, costly. However, NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter in 1999 due to what CNN referred to as a "metric mishap." What occurred? The error occurred because Lockheed Martin engineers calculated in English measurements (inches, feet, etc.) rather than metric measurements (centimeters, meters, etc.). Because of this, navigation data could not be properly transferred, and the orbiter was lost.

2. Spain nearly built a submarine that couldn’t resurface

Loss: $2.2 billion

The Spanish government invested $2.2 billion in a new submarine called The Isaac Peral in 2013. Engineers discovered a serious flaw in the design before completing the vessel. The unfinished submarine was already so heavy that it could not resurface after submerging itself underwater.

Concerned engineers were able to trace the error back to a simple calculation error during the design process. Someone accidentally typed a decimal point in the wrong place. Fortunately, the mistake was discovered before the submarine was completed, and they were able to salvage it by extending the length of the hull.

3. Bad Apple

We've learned a lot about Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak over the years, as the tech company transformed how we live and do business. However, there was a third founder of the giant, Ronald Wayne, who once owned 10% of the company. Wayne was an Apple co-founder for only 12 days before selling his stake to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Unfortunate given the company's $1 trillion valuation, according to NBC News.

4. Man throws away 7,500 bitcoins in 2009

Few predicted that cryptocurrency would take off in the coming years in 2009. Unfortunately for James Howell, he was not one of the few people who were blessed with foresight. Mr. Howell spilled coffee on his computer shortly after acquiring 7,500 bitcoins at a time when they were worth very little. He salvaged and sold the majority of the parts and extracted all of the data he thought he'd need from the hard drive.

The hard drive had been sitting in his drawer for years before he threw it out during a move. When he realized his error (and saw how bitcoin had taken off), he began looking for the lost hard drive in the city dump. To make matters worse, the Newport City Council barred him from carrying on with the project.

5. ‘Star Wars’ merchandise

George Lucas is a wealthy man, but he could have been much wealthier. The film studio was hesitant to pay the required fee to allow the green filmmaker to film a science fiction story involving robots, spaceships, and light-up swords, so Lucas decided to sweeten the deal.

He gave 20th Century Fox the merchandising rights to all Star Wars films. That means Lucas isn't getting paid for every toy droid, TIE fighter, or lightsaber sold. We don't need to tell you how much money Star Wars merchandise brings in to understand how much this must hurt, but here's a hint: Star Wars action figures alone sold more than $100 million in 1978.

6. The Lottery

In 2010, a woman from Central England purchased a lottery ticket and waited for the results. Even though she had won a lottery worth 183 million USD, she was not overjoyed when the results were announced. This is the largest lottery prize ever awarded. She was not happy because her husband had thrown the lottery ticket in the trash just one day before the results were announced.

7. Lotus Riverside apartment complex falls on its side

Loss: $800,000

Due to poor construction practices, a residential complex in Shanghai collapsed. Ten meters of displaced soil were piled up against one side of the building while a 4.6-meter car park was dug beneath the other. Unfortunately, one worker was killed in the collapse while returning to the site to retrieve his misplaced tools.

The real estate company in charge ignored numerous warnings about the mudslide. Moving the soil prior to the incident would have saved the company approximately $800,000 and one man's life. The 2009 incident shed light on China's construction supervision issues, emphasizing the desperate need for reform and accountability.

8. Millennium, the wobbly bridge in the Thames

On June 10, 2000, construction was completed on an 18.2 million-pound bridge connecting both sides of the River Thames. The bridge closed three days later, after a disturbing incident while the bridge was crowded with foot-traffic: The bridge was swaying.

During the weekend it opened, approximately 160,000 people crossed the pedestrian bridge and were understandably alarmed by the rapid movement of the fixture. The cause of the problem was the bridge’s popularity; too many people stepping in unison along the path. The bridge closed immediately following the concerns, but more money had to be raised to correct the problem. It would be two years before the bridge would open again.

9. Glacier Alaska mountain, Russia sold to USA, mistakes

Few Russians had explored the interior of the land up until that point, or they would have realized what a huge mistake the sale was. During the negotiations, the US clearly got away with robbery: Alaska is rich in natural resources such as oil and gold. After a century and twenty years, economists estimate Alaska's oil and gas reserves are worth $200 billion.

10. Blockbuster could have bought Netflix in 2000

Before video streaming services became popular, you had to go to these places called video stores to rent movies. You'd have to pay a late fee if you kept it past the due date. The largest of these video store chains was Blockbuster. Netflix was a popular newcomer with an intriguing business model.

Reed Hastings, cofounder of Netflix, met with John Antioco, CEO of Blockbuster, in 2000 to propose a partnership. Netflix would manage Blockbuster's online presence, while Blockbuster would promote Netflix in stores. Hastings was laughed out of Antioco's office by his team. Blockbuster declared bankruptcy ten years later. Netflix is now valued at $15.8 billion.

11. Mercedes-Benz Buys Chrysler

Daimler-Benz (maker of the Mercedes-Benz luxury vehicle line) paid $37 billion for Chrysler in 1998. They sold the company for $7 billion nine years later. Despite being sold to investors as an equal merger, it soon became clear that Daimler-Benz was in charge. For a time, everything seemed to be going well; stocks reached $108.62 per share in 2001. But trouble was on the way.

Despite launching ten new vehicles in 2006, Chrysler reported a $1.5 billion loss. The company's insecurity and loss of profits proved too much for Daimler-Benz, which sold off 80 percent of its shares the following year. Chrysler declared bankruptcy in 2008 and was famously bailed out by the Treasury.

12. B-2 Bomber crashes due to faulty electronics

Regardless of its primary mission (stealth), the B-2 military jet is one of the most recognizable military vehicles. Unsurprisingly, it is also the most expensive, and unfortunately, the high price did not guarantee the quality of materials in this case.

When faulty sensors caused airspeed, altitude, and trajectory errors during a practice flight in Guam in 2008, the $1.4 billion piece of sleek military machinery stalled and crashed upon takeoff. Fortunately, both pilots ejected prior to the crash and survived. An investigation revealed that the problem was most likely caused by heavy rain, which caused moisture to seep in and damage the sensors. The crash was the most expensive in history.

13. Gold Mine for Sale

In 1867, Russia believed that their land area had increased and that controlling such a large area was difficult. As a result, the Russian government decided to sell 1.72 million square kilometers to the United States for 7.2 million USD.

But this was Russia's biggest blunder because that land is now known as Alaska and contains gold mines, natural gas, and oil with a market value of around $200 billion USD.