We all make mistakes at work, at school, or in our private lives. These mistakes can sometimes hurt our ego, our pride, or our economy. However, some mistakes can cause widespread destruction and loss of tons of money.

Let's take a look at the most expensive mistakes in history together.

Apple Share Sold for $800

In the early days of Apple, Steve Wozniak was 21 and Steve Jobs was 25. Ronald Gerald Wayne joined the duo to oversee mechanical engineering and documentation, and he said he took care of them as an adult. In return, Ronald was given 10 shares of the company. Ronald even drew the company's first logo. His concerns about the company he bought 10 shares of were increasing day by day. He was afraid he would end up on business debts. Steve Jobs had already taken out a $15,000 loan to purchase supplies on the first contract. Also, the first client they had a contract with was notorious for not paying the bills. This made Wayne worry. In a situation where the debts were not paid, the bank would go to his house first. Because Wozniak and Jobs had no money. Ronald, on the other hand, had a house and some more property. That's why he wanted to leave. Twelve days later, sold his shares to Wozniak and Jobs for $800. Had he held 10 shares, he would have a fortune of $95 billion today.

Sale of Alaska

It may be hard for Americans to imagine that Russia once owned Alaska, but it's a fact. So much so that Alaska was virtually unknown until Russian explorer Vitus Bering laid claim to the tsar in 1741. From then on this place became a problem. Not many Russians lived here until 1784. In fact, there were no permanent settlements in the area. Also, the area was not self-sufficient, as it relied on the British, Americans, and native tribes for supplies. Russia was worried that the United States, which had done the same in Texas before, would eventually invade Alaska. After borrowing heavily in the Crimean War and failing in the fur trade, the czar's brother decided to sell Alaska. Thus, they agreed with the United States for a price of $7.2 million for Alaska. On October 18, 1867, the Russian flags in Alaska were lowered and the United States flags were hoisted. As a result, this place, which was once oversold by Russia, is now one of the wealthiest states in America. This place has a production volume of over 50 billion dollars every year. In addition, Alaska has a workforce of over 370,000 in oil, natural gas and marine products.

$60.9 Billion Oil Spill

The BP company faced a huge problem and spent billions of dollars to fix its mistake. In 2010, the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank. This explosion was the largest oil spill in offshore oil drilling history and resulted in the deaths of 11 workers. So much so that the company still pays compensation even after years of this incident. According to the data, the total cost in 2018 was around $65 billion, which was about 7 times higher than anticipated.

Shanghai Building Collapse

Engineers come under great pressure when a building unexpectedly collapses. Did they do something wrong or did they have serious flaws in their design? In this case where a high-rise building in Shanghai collapsed, it was not the engineers' fault, it seems. After investigating this incident, in which 1 worker lost his life, it was determined that a mud pile of about 10 meters on the north side of the building and a 4.6-meter underground parking lot caused the foundations to slip. So much so that these changing foundations caused the building to collapse. Experts who examined the collapse stated that the ground would not be able to withstand more than 5 meters of mud. Considering that the 500 affected landlords as a result should be compensated, we can definitely define this as an expensive mistake.

So, which one do you think is the bigger mistake?

The photos are from Pixabay.