Try your own numbers
it would be worth today
$51,374
+$50,374 profit51.4x23.4% a year
The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund: $7,463
Aftertax on the gain, you’d keep$43,818
US federal long-term rates: 15% for most people, 0% on lower incomes, 20% + 3.8% on high incomes. No state tax included; none inside a Roth IRA.
Growth Over Time
Performance Metrics
Total Invested
$1,000.00
Current Value
$51,374.22
Total Profit
$50,374.22
Multiplier
51.4x
CAGR
23.4%
Max Drawdown
-55.6%
Inflation-Adjusted
$33,929.05
Benchmark Comparison
How does $1,000.00 invested in 2008 compare across different asset classes?
| Asset | Value Today | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon | $51,374.22 | 51.4x |
| S&P 500 | $7,462.64 | 7.46x |
| Gold | $5,025.36 | 5.03x |
| Savings (2% APY) | $1,449.49 | 1.45x |
Dividends
Amazon paid no dividends over this period, so the whole return came from its share price.
Dividends from Yahoo Finance. Shares today assume every dividend was reinvested.
Back in 2008
- In January 2008, Amazon agreed to buy audiobook seller Audible for about $300 million, adding the leading online provider of digital spoken-word audio. press.aboutamazon.com
- In 2008, a gallon of gas averaged $3.25, a movie ticket averaged $7.18 and the new iPhone 3G started at $199 with a two-year contract. eia.govapple.comvariety.com
- During 2008 itself, Amazon fell 43%, #44 of the 65 investments we track. The best was Walmart (+24%); the worst was Lululemon (−83%). Full 2008 results →
$1,000 in Amazon, year by year
Of the 65 investments we track that were available at the start of 2008, Amazon ranks #7 by growth to today, near the top — just behind Apple and ahead of Super Micro Computer. See the full 2008 ranking →
Amazon started 2008 at its highest start-of-year price up to then, after rising 148% in 2007. It was worth less than the $1,000 put in at the start of 2009, and has been above it since the start of 2010. Today's $51,374 is more than it was worth at any January since. It rose in 14 of the 18 full years since. It moved ahead of the same $1,000 in the S&P 500 at the start of 2010 and has stayed ahead since. Month by month, the deepest fall ran from Jan 2008 ($1,000) to Nov 2008 ($444.08), a drop of 56%. At its lowest month-end, in Nov 2008, it was worth $444.08.
| When | Worth | Change | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of 2008 | $1,000 | — | $1,000 |
| Start of 2009 | $565 | −43% | $630 |
| Start of 2010 | $1,393 | +146% | $797 |
| Start of 2011 | $1,915 | +37% | $917 |
| Start of 2012 | $1,861 | −2.8% | $936 |
| Start of 2013 | $2,676 | +44% | $1,086 |
| Start of 2014 | $4,137 | +55% | $1,438 |
| Start of 2015 | $3,208 | −22% | $1,634 |
| Start of 2016 | $6,622 | +106% | $1,657 |
| Start of 2017 | $7,834 | +18% | $1,855 |
| Start of 2018 | $12,360 | +58% | $2,260 |
| Start of 2019 | $16,000 | +29% | $2,161 |
| Start of 2020 | $19,730 | +23% | $2,842 |
| Start of 2021 | $33,125 | +68% | $3,365 |
| Start of 2022 | $35,428 | +7.0% | $4,330 |
| Start of 2023 | $17,842 | −50% | $3,546 |
| Start of 2024 | $31,170 | +75% | $4,478 |
| Start of 2025 | $45,784 | +47% | $5,599 |
| Start of 2026 | $47,089 | +2.9% | $6,600 |
| Today | $51,374 | +9.1% | $7,463 |
Values at the start of each year (first trading day for stocks). The S&P 500 column includes reinvested dividends, like the stock values.
Historical Context
At the start of 2008, Amazon was priced at $4.81 (adjusted for later splits and dividends). $1,000 would have bought about 208 shares. Amazon runs the world's largest online store and Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud-computing business.
Measured from one January to the next, Amazon's best year since then was 2009 (+146%) and its worst was 2022 (−50%). Holding on wasn't easy: between the start of 2022 and the start of 2023, the position fell 50% from its high.
Frequently Asked Questions
A $1,000 investment in Amazon at the start of 2008 would be worth approximately $51,374.22 today — a 51.4x return ($50,374.22 profit) over 18.7 years.
Methodology & Sources
Price data: Historical prices are the closing price on the first trading day of each year, adjusted for splits and dividends (so returns assume dividends were reinvested), from Yahoo Finance and MacroTrends. Current prices come from Yahoo Finance and refresh hourly; if that source is unavailable, the last saved price is used.
Calculation: Assumes a single purchase at the start of 2008 (or the first trading day, for companies that listed that year), held until today. No transaction fees, taxes, or slippage are included.
Benchmarks: The S&P 500 comparison uses the S&P 500 Total Return index (dividends reinvested, like an index fund) at the start of2008 and today. Gold uses the price per troy ounce. Savings account assumes a 2% APY compounded annually.
Inflation adjustment: Uses U.S. CPI-U annual averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2026 CPI value is estimated.
Educational purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Not financial advice.
Other investments from 2008
NVIDIA · 2008
What If You Invested $1,000 in NVIDIA in 2008?
Apple · 2008
What If You Invested $1,000 in Apple in 2008?
Google · 2008
What If You Invested $1,000 in Google in 2008?
Microsoft · 2008
What If You Invested $1,000 in Microsoft in 2008?
See how every stock and crypto ranked since 2008 →
$1,000 in Amazon, by year
$1,000 in Amazon:1 year ago5 years ago10 years ago
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Instead of…first Kindle (2007)