Try your own numbers
it would be worth today
$737.85
−$262.15 loss0.74x-3.4% a year
The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund: $3,302
Its shares paid about $7.67 in dividends over the last 12 months.
No tax on a loss. Selling can offset tax on other gains.
Growth Over Time
Performance Metrics
Total Invested
$1,000.00
Current Value
$737.85
Total Loss
−$262.15
Multiplier
0.74x
CAGR
-3.4%
Max Drawdown
-85.1%
Inflation-Adjusted
$568.32
Benchmark Comparison
How does $1,000.00 invested in 2018 compare across different asset classes?
| Asset | Value Today | Return |
|---|---|---|
| PayPal | $737.85 | 0.74x |
| S&P 500 | $3,301.62 | 3.30x |
| Gold | $3,224.25 | 3.22x |
| Savings (2% APY) | $1,189.05 | 1.19x |
Dividends
Over the last 12 months, the 13.69 shares you'd own now paid about $7.67 in dividends. That's 0.8% of the $1,000 put in.
Without reinvesting dividends, it would be worth $729.73 instead of $737.85.
Dividends from Yahoo Finance. Shares today assume every dividend was reinvested.
Back in 2018
- In May 2018, PayPal agreed to buy Swedish mobile payments company iZettle, maker of a card reader for small businesses, for $2.2 billion. bbc.com
- In 2018, a gallon of gas averaged $2.72, a movie ticket averaged $9.11 and the new iPhone XS started at $999. eia.govapple.comhollywoodreporter.com
- During 2018 itself, PayPal rose 16%, #20 of the 94 investments we track. The best was The Trade Desk (+150%); the worst was Cardano (−94%). Full 2018 results →
$1,000 in PayPal, year by year
Of the 94 investments we track that were available at the start of 2018, PayPal ranks #83 by growth to today, in the bottom quarter — just behind Disney and ahead of Comcast. See the full 2018 ranking →
PayPal started 2018 at its highest start-of-year price up to then, after rising 83% in 2017. It's worth less than the $1,000 put in today; the last January it was above that was 2025. Its best January was 2021, at $3,141. Today it's 77% below that, so selling then would have beaten holding. It rose in 4 of the 8 full years since. It fell behind the same $1,000 in the S&P 500 at the start of 2023 and hasn't caught up. Month by month, the deepest fall ran from Jun 2021 ($3,988) to Jun 2026 ($595.83), a drop of 85%. At its lowest month-end, in Jun 2026, it was worth $595.83.
| When | Worth | Change | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of 2018 | $1,000 | — | $1,000 |
| Start of 2019 | $1,161 | +16% | $956 |
| Start of 2020 | $1,500 | +29% | $1,257 |
| Start of 2021 | $3,141 | +109% | $1,489 |
| Start of 2022 | $2,640 | −16% | $1,916 |
| Start of 2023 | $1,010 | −62% | $1,569 |
| Start of 2024 | $832 | −18% | $1,981 |
| Start of 2025 | $1,167 | +40% | $2,477 |
| Start of 2026 | $789 | −32% | $2,920 |
| Today | $738 | −6.5% | $3,302 |
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 2018, PayPal was priced at $73.03 (adjusted for later splits and dividends). $1,000 would have bought about 13.69 shares. PayPal runs online payments, including Venmo. It was spun off from eBay in July 2015.
Measured from one January to the next, PayPal's best year since then was 2020 (+109%) and its worst was 2022 (−62%). Holding on wasn't easy: between the start of 2021 and the start of 2026, the position fell 75% from its high.
Frequently Asked Questions
A $1,000 investment in PayPal at the start of 2018 would be worth approximately $737.85 today — a 0.74x return ($262.15 loss) over 8.7 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 2018 (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 of2018 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.
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$1,000 in PayPal, by year
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