Apple Stock Reaches New Highs, Veteran Investors Dancing in Aisles
4:40 pm, October 21st, 2009, Sayam Aggarwal
Image via Yahoo! Finance
Apple’s stock reached it’s all time high today, leaping just over the $208 mark. The rally caused investors to dance in the aisles over the company’s astonishing rise to a Wall Street darling. This is the same company that most people doubted would even survive, back in the late 90s.
“I’ve made over $1,500 in two days… Thank you aapl”, said @jherrdog on Twitter.
The happiest investors were those AAPL veterans who bought the stock at its all-time low — around $12 in 1997. Several were also celebrating their good fortune on Twitter.
“Oh, look! Time for my quarterly brag about buying a bucket of AAPL in 1997. Translation: Suck it, Ballmer,” said @guywithabike (Tyson) on Twitter.
Investors like Tyson have seen their AAPL shares grow to about 70-times their inital value. In the last decade, the stock has split twice and risen almost 200x in value.
That means $1,000 invested in Apple stock in 1997 is worth around $70,000 now. And $10,000 — the kind of sum that professional investors typically put into company stock — is worth a cool $700,000 — almost enough money to buy a house in posh Palo Alto where Steve Jobs lives.
And for those wondering how much Steve Jobs made, thanks to his 5.4 mil shares of AAPL and 138 mil shares of Disney (DIS), he made more than $90 million today. On paper, of course.
Posted by Sayam Aggarwal in Apple, News, Top stories | Comment on this article
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As far as I know, the stock has split only once since I bought the stock in 2000. Did it split between 1997 and 2000 (after the release of the original iMac?)
Dustin, on October 21st, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I need to grow a pair. I’ve been saying for a couple years that I should just cash out of my mutual funds and put it all in Apple. I’m gutless. And relatively poor, in comparison.
imajoebob, on October 21st, 2009 at 5:39 pm
let’s just hope it finds a way of going up even higher…
Chris, on October 21st, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Although I have been a loyal Mac user for over 15 years, I invested in the stock late in the game, and I have merely tripled my money…thank you, Steve Jobs, a true genius.
Mike, on October 21st, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I sold my apple stock at $14 because I had to pay taxes.
Needless to say, I haven’t invested since.
Overall, I’m glad.
But YOWIE, the Apple stock hurts.
JAYnLA, on October 21st, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Dustin: according to Yahoo Finance:
Splits:16-Jun-87 [2:1], 21-Jun-00 [2:1], 28-Feb-05 [2:1]
So if you bought after the split in 2000 (which was, IIRC, for shareholders of record approximately 60 days prior to the actual split date, so sometime around 20 April), you only got one split.
Chris, on October 21st, 2009 at 7:07 pm
I picked it up for $13 a share.
Ted, on October 21st, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I bet there are not three professional investors in the whole world who have made $700,000 on their average $10,000 investment in AAPL, because the average ‘professional’ investor would have been in for about 14 minutes before they bailed out to chase some other sure-fire tip.
I further bet that Mr ‘@jherrdog on Twitter’, quoted in the article, gives the entire $1,500 back to the market within a few weeks.
gr@wl!x
Grawlix, on October 21st, 2009 at 11:02 pm
i dont get it…if it all time low was 12$ and now its 208$ thats an increase of roughly 17x, where do you get 70x from ?
10.000$ invested in AAPL in 1997 would today be woth roughly 170k, not 700k.
kayoone, on October 22nd, 2009 at 3:32 am
@kayoone, there was a split of 2 to 1 twice since 1997
Therefore, split adjusted value of all time low is around 3$ 
Sayam Aggarwal, on October 22nd, 2009 at 6:04 am
Honestly who would make business investing in the same company for 12 years?
Most people who did probably sold just when they hit enough profits(3x their investment?)
there are only two kinds
1)Big investor with big money that believes in the company and going for long term investment to make billions…ex. Steve Jobs
2)Someone one who is investing for retirement , and I think if you are then you won’t be investing in a company that was going to go bust in 1997. You were more likely to invest in Dell or Microsoft.
king, on October 22nd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
wonder how high it will go when Apple finally releases this tablet of theirs.
Charli, on October 23rd, 2009 at 9:09 pm
How is DELL stock doing these days? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa.
Dell should just sell the company and give the money back to the shareholders.
Torstein A., on October 25th, 2009 at 1:00 am
I got in at $40 and expect the stock to hit $600 within a few short years. It may drop down to $120 or so at least in the mean time but it’ll be back up. My current $130,000 will be worth about $390,000. Unfortunately, I will be dead due to cancer within a few months. What an irony.
Greg, on October 27th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Torstein A.:
“Dell should just sell the company and give the money back to the shareholders.”
No, Apple should buy them and *then* give the money back to the shareholders, just to make a (hilarious) point.
cl
Chris, on October 28th, 2009 at 6:11 pm