Historical scenario / MSFT / 1996
If you had bought MSFT in 1996 with $10,000...
Estimated value
$1,761,525
Buy Price
Jan 1, 1996
$3.06
Sell Price
Oct 14, 2026
$539
Multiplier
176.2×
ROI
+17515%
Adjust assumptions
Change the investment amount and entry-price basis.
Choose which price you bought at. You always sell at today's price.
$539
Current market price
Run it again (different timeline)
Same year. Different mistake.
Calculation record
How this result was calculated
The selected investment amount is divided by the chosen 1996 entry price, then multiplied by the latest available price. Taxes, trading fees, spreads, dividends and inflation are not included.
- Year open
- $3.427
- Year low / high
- $3.061 / $6.529
- Latest price
- $539.28
- Price as of
- 2026-10-14
Source: GhostGains market-data API using publicly available market observations. Prices can be delayed and should be independently verified.
Same period benchmark
Compared with the S&P 500
Both returns use the first available price in 1996 and the latest available price. This is a price-return comparison and may exclude dividends.
MSFT
157.38×
15638.4%
S&P 500
12.49×
1148.6% · as of 2026-10-14
Scenario context
In 1996, Microsoft traded between $3.061 and $6.529, a range equal to 101.2% of its opening price. An investment made at the year's low produces the headline result above; using the year's opening price produces a 157.38× price multiple instead. Over the same measurement window, the S&P 500 price multiple was 12.49×.