The Greatest Investor Alive Bought $6 Billion in Tech Stocks at the Exact Top. He Missed the Peak by an Hour.

Stanley Druckenmiller is arguably one of the greatest investors who ever lived. 30% average annual returns over 30 years. Zero losing years. The kind of track record that makes Warren Buffett look like a day trader.

In early 2000, Druckenmiller did something smart: he shorted internet stocks. Then they kept going up. By mid-March, his short position had lost $600 million and he was down 15% on the year.

So what did he do? He hired some "gunslingers" who knew the hot tech names ("I wanted the six — Veritas, Verisign..."). They made money. He watched. It drove him insane.

In January 2000, he told George Soros he was selling everything — "104 times earnings, this is nuts." But watching his hired guns make 3% per day while he sat on the sidelines was torture.

"Three times the same week I pick up the phone — don't do it. Don't do it."

He did it anyway. $6 billion into tech stocks, essentially at the exact peak of the dot-com bubble. Six weeks later, he'd lost $3 billion and left Soros Fund Management.

The kicker? He knew it was stupid. "I didn't learn anything. I already knew that I wasn't supposed to do that. I was just an emotional basket case and couldn't help myself."

Even legends get FOMO. The market doesn't care about your track record.