Walter “Keep on Keepin’ On” Cartwright, remembers the day well: “It was early March of ’98 and my wife, Tabitha, and I were blasting our favorite song at the time, ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion. We were cruising down the highway in our convertible Miata and she suggested I look into this innovative new company called Amazon that was selling books online.”
So Walter did some research and while somewhat drawn to the company’s disruptive business model, what most attracted him was that the CEO, Jeff Bezos, reminded him of his high school geometry teacher and that the share price was currently at $6 – his lucky number.
“So I took a flyer,” he said. “I bought 1000 shares and didn’t expect much to come of it, frankly.”
But one month later, when Walter discovered Amazon had skyrocketed to an impossible-to-believe $8.02 he knew it was time to cash out and celebrate his massive gain. “Can you imagine? Going up two bucks? How could I not sell? I mean, Tabitha told me to wait and see but I felt the moment was right.”
And right it was, to the tune of around $2000 profit, which over the last 22 years Walter has grown to a handsome $5000.
Other astounding deals, ones where he also completely ignored sage advice from those around him, include selling early on Netflix, Facebook, Apple and Google and he also once spent his last 50 Bitcoin on a large pepperoni pizza.
Walter, as his nickname will attest, remains unbothered and seemingly barely aware of any of his multiple near misses with fortune. Tabitha, on the other hand, though she declined to comment directly, did let out a long, protracted sigh.