“Being an Apple fan has paid off handsomely for Alex Gerb,” Heather Long reports for CNNMoney.
“He doesn’t just own the products, he owns the stock. He’s made close to $50,000 since he first bought Apple shares in 2007,” Long reports. “While working his way through college in Maryland, he took all the money he had to his name — about $4,000 — and bought the stock. Friends thought he was a little nuts. Now they kick themselves for not following his lead.”
MacDailyNews Take: Smart guy, than Alex Gerb!
“Gerb is hardly alone. Apple is one of the most popular stocks on the planet. People are making big money off the stock’s phenomenal rise in the last decade.
In January 2005, the stock was trading for around $5 a share,” Long reports. “Today it’s worth about $130 a share and is the most valuable company in the world.”
Much more, including gripes about Apple’s “skimpy” dividend, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Success stories? On paper or realized, let’s hear ’em!
We’ll start: In 1997, a friend remarked that he had some $32,000 in his checking account that wasn’t doing much for him. The money coming in was good and he was just adding it to his account. It was earning no interest at all; it was just sitting there. We discussed the recent return of Steve Jobs to Apple and how, perhaps, that $32,000 might be better put to work by investing in AAPL. Our friend did just that, he purchased $32,000 of AAPL shares in August 1997 and still holds the vast majority of those shares today. That investment turned out alright, huh?
I bought 100 shares of Apple in 1999 for about $2000. I still have that investment, and I’ve added shares on dips over the years. I’m retiring. I’m 58 years old. Yeah. Apple has been very, very good to me.
We got in back in ’98 for about $18 a share. Since then the ROI is about 4000% with multiple splits.:)
According to my brokerage account, some of my AAPL shares have unrealized gain of more than +6500%. No other investment I’ve made (including home purchase) comes remotely close. Unfortunately, the initial amount was not very large, and I did sell about half of those original shares along the way (to buy actual things). But what I still have in AAPL, including shares purchased more recently (which are “only” up about 300%), is quite significant.
It’s all good. Beats 1-1/2% in a savings account.:)
In 2000, I made my first investment in AAPL with my last $400. I made that purchase over a pay-phone via the nascent eTrade.
Since then my wife and I have invested in AAPL at every opportunity, including re-investing dividends.
Today our AAPL stake is worth well over half-a-million and composes two-thirds of our investment portfolio. (I want to be invested 100% in AAPL, but my wife prefers diversification to spread risk, so this is our compromise.) GO AAPL!
I invested $18,000 in APPL from a locked in retirement account with a post-split cost of around $85 a share and now have 231 shares. Seemed crazy at the time, but my initial investment coupled with the low CDN $ has almost doubled.
I’m Canadian as well and bought 160 shares for about $25,000 in 2006 or 7. I’ve sold a bunch since but still hold 600 shares. The Canadian dollar drop has been incredible to my AAPL and my Berkshire Hathaway.
not only Americans!
I bought my first Mac in 1995, and then Apple shares in March 1997 when I saw that with NeXT, Apple had a future.
Today these shares have made a factor 200.
I bought about 450 shares in two trades when the price was $49 and subsequently $75. I put all my spare money into AAPL, despite being advised that I should spread the risk. I had tracked AAPL as a virtual stock for a couple of years before I bought in and wished that I had bought the shares when I first had the idea.
Just over two years ago, I moved house and by selling 400 of those shares when the price was over $600, the profit made an immense difference to the quality of house I was able to buy. The stock that I had been advised to buy to spread the risk turned out to be a dud, so I’m glad I ignored that ‘expert’.
Shortly after I sold my AAPL, the stock plummeted and I was able to buy more at a very favourable price.
I had a bunch of shares that I had to sell about five years ago. Had I held them they’d ‘be worth about $700,000 now. As it is, I still have about $110,000 in AAPL, representing a profit of roughly 160%. I kick myself when I think of what I sold, but console myself by reminding myself that I still have 810 shares and a very nice profit, with (having learned my lesson) no plans to sell my stock for a very long time.
I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about what you had to sell. I have made oodles of dough in this stock. Spent almost all of it on my family. That is what money is for. Life will supply you with an endless supply of regret if you bend over and pick it up. Don’t do that. Me, instead, I look to the stars and smile.
In 2007 I dumped an old 401k worth about $25,000 into Apple stock. Since then, I’ve invested more and more. Now have almost 2700 shares. My Fidelity account keeps track of the gains of each lot. So far, I’ve made over $190k in profits from my initial investments. (I reinvest all dividends). This will help pay off the nursing home bills I’ll probably accrue years down the road 🙂
“Since then my wife and I have invested in AAPL at every opportunity, including re-investing dividends.”
My wife and I, too, BD: we’ve invested $71,000 in Apple, Inc. (no dividends) since 1988, amid the ear-splitting catcalls of all my “oh-so-savvy-and-successful” friends. We now hold 39,900 shares of AAPL, for a per-share cost of $1.78. And so who has the last laugh now? Our professional portfolio advisers now call us “tech moguls,” forgetting that at every meeting over the past 25+ years, they’ve recommended dumping the stock. So much for “insider knowledge,” huh? Know, believe, commit, and hold.
Thanks Randian. Your story is music to my ears!
Inspiring and instructive, Randian. Unshakeable commitment and time are the keys…
From the article: “Friends thought he was a little nuts. Now they kick themselves for not following his lead.”
As someone who has also profited from AAPL, I say let’s be clear: Just because your bet has paid off handsomely does not mean you were not a little nuts.
Apple stock has made me rich. Now how do I become regular?
How do you become regular? A little coffee in the morning should do it…..:o)
Bought my Apple stock in 1984 when I got my first Mac. With splits it was about $0.50 a share. Kept it primarily to teach myself that I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t.
I started buy AAPL in 1998 and have bought shares when I could over the years. After 17 years and three splits I now have 8100 shares worth over $1M! Apple has definitely been good to me.
I bought 1,000 shares (now 7,400 with dividend reinvestments) in 2006 for $60,000. I bought another 1,000 shares in 2007 for $100,000, but then (stupidly) sold that lot after Steve took his first medical leave. I still have the first lot. When the stock hits $168.92, I sell and net $1M after taxes. It will fund my vacation home, which will become my retirement home in 10 years, with enough left over to pay the real estate taxes for 20 years. All because of the brilliance and vision of one man who built an incredible team of creative and talented people.
I bought AAPL using a five year dollar cost average approach, making forty four separate purchases. Have over ten thousand shares now.
A great comfort.
I also invested a couple paychecks worth in AAPL soon after Jobs returned to Apple, and have continued to invest more over the years. Over the past year, AAPL has paid for a new house and a new truck, and I still could retire now if I wanted to. PRAISE STEVE, AMEN!
Misleading or derogatory title in the article. We are not ordinary Americans, rather we’re wise tech investors. Here’s to the “crazy ones”. The ordinary ones live on Wall Street. $23 and a few splits later: 😄I
I’ve been through numerous buy/sell cycles with Apple since just after its IPO. The stock paid off our mortgage and bought some cars and remodeling over the years. I still hold some shares and maybe they’ll contribute to my granddaughter’s college education.
All of that said, I’m an Apple user first, investor second. I’m glad to invest in a company I believe in but what I really care about is the products and how they fit into my life.
It’s a small consolation considering that the rest of the nation is making regular Americans ready for a dose of karma that is going to be such a bitch.
Stay tuned citizens of the civilized world and see what happens to those who toss their constitution down the toilet and drop ethics into the pits.
Retired in 2004. Downsized the house, downsized the life, sold a car and put every nickel into AAPL much to the horror of siblings and extended family. Initially bought it for the anticipated growth. May never sell it as it turns into a dividend champ. Thank you Steve!
Originally bought 200 shares at a split-adjusted price of 57.5 cents per share in 1997. Sold some off along the way, of course. That original chunk would have been 5,600 shares now, I believe.
Ameritrade called me up one day when the stock was about 11 split-adjusted and said thanks to the stock valuation I was now eligible for their special advisors etc. The advisor wanted to discuss how my account was “highly overweighted” in AAPL, no doubt wanting me to sell it and buy something else. Heh – this alone is reason never to trust any professional money manager.
Also made a pile of $$ doing AAPL options trades. Some lost, but far more were winners. Over the years I have withdrawn $50K more than I put into the account, plus I have my (free) stock portfolio, heavy in AAPL, to boot.
The only downside is this is in a taxable account. Further, my kids are now ineligible for financial aid. If I withdrew it all and spent it on a Tesla, vacation home, trips, etc. then I could be like my peers who live beyond their means and get assistance. Go figure.
Canadians, too. 🙂 Retired @ 55, Apple bought me a couple of Corvettes over the last 10 years. Thank you AAPL.
I did the same thing when Steve came back. Had a spare $4,000 and bought at pre-split $14.00 ($7.00). 285 s/s (570) then 10:1 or 5,700 s/s.
Thanks Steve and Tim!!!
Bought Apple in Jan 2007, I think it was at $90 or so, sold some along the way, mostly to buy back my covered calls at a loss. So I gave up on that, still have 19600 shares. Ouch…
Think I kind of “deserved” it, being an AppleHead since the IIE in 1982. All the Macs since then cost me an arm & a leg but I guess Apple made up for that.
my original 100 shares bought with $1500 circa ’98 is now 2100 shares after splits… wish i had more when i invested, but it was my first stock ever. Most of us are not greedy, most of us saw what the Apple machines were doing to improve our own lives so we KNEW it was something we wanted to be a part of. Congratulations to all of us who care and are interested in good things, not just a quick buck.
Invested $10K @ $14~
Another $7K @ $17
since then split 2-1 / 7-1
building my second little home soon. It will feature an Apple logo in the entranceway. Steve Jobs was a saint!