Which leader of a large financial services company recently confessed to shareholders of “a very expensive business fiasco entirely of his own making”? The executives of many companies owe their investors that kind of apology. But mostly their statements make extensive references to unprecedented turmoil in the financial world, challenging market conditions and the dangers of historic errors of regulation. You will find an occasional expression of regret for what has happened. That is not quite the same as regret for what one has oneself done.
The company in question seems to have responded well to the challenging conditions. It is led, of course, by Warren Buffett. He has publicly admitted defeat in Berkshire Hathaway's withdrawal from the credit card business after substantial losses.
The Sage of Omaha's investment record, and the adulation of his supporters, is such that he could now own up to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and be cheered to the rafters. You might think that past success makes it easier to admit present failure, but you more often find the reverse: many people in senior positions take the view that their past achievements simply confirm their own assessment of their extraordinary prescience.