A 19,000% portfolio growth is not a smooth or quick journey. This kind of huge growth has historically taken many decades to achieve. Along the way, you must be prepared for long periods where your investments don’t seem to be growing much, and you must have the patience to hold on even when the returns seem disappointing.

To put a 19,000% increase in perspective, it means your original investment grows roughly 190 times. Returns of that magnitude have occurred in public markets, but only under very specific conditions: long time horizons, reinvested dividends, and ownership of exceptional assets that compounded for decades. 

Why Percentage Growth Matters More Than Dollar Targets

Focusing on dollar amounts can be very misleading because it doesn’t consider how much money you started with or how long you invested. Percentage growth tells a clearer, more honest story about your investment’s performance.

It is worth noting that achieving significant percentage growth depends entirely on how long you stay invested, not how fast the portfolio grows in the very beginning. It’s a fundamental principle of investing that the vast majority of your biggest gains will arrive much later in the process.

Microsoft Corp: A 24-Year Example Of Compounding, Stagnation, And Reacceleration

The story of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) offers one of the best real-world examples of multi-thousand-per-cent growth that seemed completely unimpressive for many years. From the early 2000s to the early 2010s, Microsoft’s share price made little progress after the dot-com bubble burst. However, looking at total return rather than price alone changes the picture. 

From 2000 to the mid-2020s, Microsoft delivered a four-figure total percentage return when dividends were reinvested. That outcome required investors to sit through more than a decade of relatively flat performance before the company’s cloud-driven growth phase began to materially accelerate returns. 

The key lesson is not the exact percentage, but the sequence. Much of Microsoft’s long-term compounding occurred after years when many investors lost patience and exited the stock.

Apple Inc: From Near-Death Narrative To Five-Figure Percentage Returns

The case of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) represents one of the most powerful long-term compounding stories in modern markets. From the early 2000s to the mid-2020s, Apple’s stock produced multi-thousand-per-cent gains on a split-adjusted basis, even before dividends were accounted for. 

Depending on the exact starting date, investors who held Apple from the early 2000s through 2024 experienced returns well into the five-figure percentage range, with dividend reinvestment pushing total returns even higher. Investors who entered later, including around the iPhone launch period, still benefited from extraordinary long-term compounding, though at meaningfully lower percentage levels than the earliest holders. 

Apple’s success was not driven by a single product but by sustained profit growth, expanding margins, disciplined reinvestment, and the creation of an ecosystem that locked in customers over time.

NVIDIA Corp: Faster Growth, Higher Risk, Shorter Window

NVIDIA’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) huge returns happened over a much shorter time, which naturally made the investment much more volatile and challenging. 

From the mid-2010s to the mid-2020s, NVIDIA’s stock delivered five-figure percentage gains, placing it among the strongest performers of that period. Those returns came with severe drawdowns. NVIDIA experienced multiple declines exceeding 50% during market downturns tied to cryptocurrency cycles, broader tech sell-offs, and semiconductor demand slowdowns. 

While the end result was exceptional, the path required investors to tolerate extreme volatility and prolonged uncertainty. The takeaway is that faster compounding typically comes with higher psychological and financial risk.

McDonald’s Corp: Slower, Quieter, Still Powerful

The story of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) proves that you don’t need the next revolutionary technology to achieve multi-thousand-per-cent growth. 

Over several decades, McDonald’s delivered multi-thousand-per-cent price appreciation, driven by steady global expansion, pricing power, and consistent profitability. When dividends are reinvested, long-term total returns increase substantially, highlighting the role of income reinvestment in compounding outcomes. 

The precise percentage varies by starting date, but the broader lesson is clear: long holding periods and reinvested dividends can quietly generate enormous cumulative returns.

What These Examples Have In Common (Numerically)

Despite being in completely different industries and experiencing growth over different time periods, all these stocks share some measurable characteristics. They all required holding periods of over 10 years, and all involved long stretches when stock returns were flat or even negative. Crucially, they all experienced multiple severe price drops, sometimes falling by 30–50%.

In all cases, dividends reinvested in the stock significantly boosted the final total return. Finally, these companies had business models that didn’t just increase sales but also successfully scaled their earnings or profits. None of these remarkable outcomes was the result of a single lucky year; they were earned over decades.

Why Most Investors Never Capture These Returns

The biggest difference between a successful long-term investor and one who fails comes down to behavior, not just financial knowledge. If you look back at Microsoft, an investor who bought shares in 2000 had to wait 13 years just to see the stock gain meaningful momentum, and many people simply did not have the patience to wait that long.

Similar periods of difficulty were common for the other companies as well. Apple experienced a severe drawdown during the early 2000s technology collapse, while NVIDIA saw multiple declines exceeding 50% during major market and industry downturns. In each case, investors who sold during those periods forfeited the long-term compounding that followed.

Contributions: The Hidden Accelerator

For an investor to achieve truly extreme outcomes, percentage growth alone is usually not enough; adding regular new contributions of money matters greatly. For example, investing $500 per month for 25 years results in total contributions of $150,000. At a 10% annual return, that portfolio would grow to roughly $550,000–$600,000, depending on compounding assumptions and contribution timing.

However, if you extend that period to 30 years and achieve slightly higher returns, the power of compounding takes over, accelerating sharply. This is because the money you contribute and the money your investments earn in the later years contribute far more to the final total than everything you put in during the first decade combined. The engine of compounding is most powerful toward the end.

Practical, Conservative Steps Investors Can Actually Take

1. Anchor Expectations To Time

You must accept that extreme investment outcomes, like the ones discussed in this article, have historically required a time frame of at least 20 years, and often much longer. If your plan relies on getting rich quickly, it is not a plan for this type of growth.

2. Expect Long Periods Of Disappointment

Flat years or even decades in the market are not a sign of failure for a strong business. Instead, view them as normal events and common stages that precede the largest periods of long-term compounding.

3. Reinvest Everything

The biggest, most successful investment outcomes were materially improved by the consistent reinvestment of dividends and profits into the shares of Apple, Microsoft, and McDonald’s. Any money that leaves the system reduces your potential for extreme growth.

4. Increase Contributions Gradually

The most dependable way to accelerate your portfolio growth is not by taking bigger risks, but by slowly increasing the amount of money you regularly contribute to your investments as your income rises. This is a reliable and safe strategy.

5. Accept That You Will Never Buy The Exact Bottom

None of the successful examples in this article required the investor to perfectly time the market or buy shares at the absolute lowest price. Simply being invested and holding for the long term is far more important than trying to time the market perfectly.

What This Strategy Does Not Promise

It is important to be realistic about what this patient, long-term strategy can and cannot do. It doesn’t guarantee an exact outcome in terms of percentage growth or final monetary gains on your investment. Furthermore, it offers no protection from experiencing major price drops or drawdowns during the investment period.

And finally, it certainly does not offer any shortcuts to wealth. Even with strict discipline and the right approach, most portfolios will not ultimately reach five-figure percentage gains, and it is important for every investor to accept that reality.

Identifying The Next Multi-Decade Compounders (A Framework, Not A Sure Bet)

The past successes of Microsoft, Apple, McDonald’s, and NVIDIA, despite their very different journeys, provide a solid framework for what to look for in a new investment today. Your goal should be to find businesses that are structurally strong enough to survive and thrive for 20 years or more, completely ignoring the market’s short-term noise.

Your main focus should be analyzing the qualities that will give a company the duration and compounding power it needs to experience good growth.

Three Non-Negotiable Traits To Screen For

When evaluating a potential new investment for your long-term portfolio, prioritize these three attributes. They are clearly aligned with the success stories you’ve read about in this article:

1. The Enduring Business Model (Duration And Pricing Power) 

Does the company have a clear, lasting competitive advantage, sometimes called a “moat”, that protects it from competitors? This advantage shouldn’t be limited to a single product but should encompass the business’s overall structure.

• Ecosystem/Switching Costs: Does the company’s business model keep users or customers locked in (for instance, the Apple ecosystem), making it costly or inconvenient for them to switch to a rival product?
• Pricing Power: Can the company reliably increase its prices over time without losing a significant number of its customers (for example, McDonald’s has consistently been able to raise its prices)? Look for businesses that sell products people always need or unique products.
• Scaling Earnings, Not Just Revenue: The successful companies in this document were noted for scaling earnings, or profit. You must ensure the business is structured to increase profits faster than total sales: this is the sign of improving efficiency and greater financial leverage.

2. A Consistent Reinvestment Engine 

The greatest compounding stories are fueled by profits that are efficiently and smartly reinvested in the business or returned to shareholders to reinvest. This creates a cycle of growth.

• High Return on Invested Capital (ROIC): Look for companies that generate a high return on the money they choose to deploy in the business. This is a strong indicator that the management team is highly skilled at making profitable, smart long-term decisions.
• Shareholder-Friendly Capital Allocation: Does the company consistently use its cash flow to reinvest in important areas like research and development, better infrastructure, or strategic acquisitions that support future growth? Or does it use stock buybacks and dividends (the two main reinvestment vehicles mentioned) to increase shareholder value?

3. Demonstrated Resilience In Volatility

Every stock that eventually becomes a huge success will experience deep price drops. The best companies are those that emerge from these rough periods stronger than before.

• A Strong Balance Sheet: During major market crashes (like the ones Nvidia experienced), businesses with little debt and high cash reserves are well-positioned to survive the downturn, buy up competitors, and continue investing, while others are forced to retreat.
• A Clear Value Proposition: A company is resilient when its core products or services are absolutely essential to its customers, even when the economy is struggling. This characteristic helps to limit the permanent financial damage that a serious market correction could otherwise cause

Thinking Beyond The Next Quarter

The single largest mistake an investor makes is focusing only on getting an immediate, quick result. To successfully find a stock that can provide a 19,000% return, you must train yourself to think in terms of decades. Your research should therefore focus on major, long-term trends and powerful forces expected to shape the entire economy over the next 10 to 20 years.

Focus your research on the large, enduring trend, not on the temporary, passing fad. You should first identify a growing megatrend (such as the world’s increasing reliance on digital technology, the aging population, or the transition to clean energy) and then select a handful of companies best positioned to benefit most from that movement.

While valuation is certainly important, you should try to ignore the Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio for a moment. If you focus too narrowly on a stock’s current P/E, you might overlook a company that has extraordinary long-term compounding power. A stock that seems ‘expensive’ today may actually be very cheap in the context of the profits it is likely to generate over the next ten years. Remember, the biggest gains always come from businesses that execute their plan flawlessly over time, not just from buying the absolute cheapest stock.

The Bigger Picture

The idea of a 19,000% portfolio increase is not a fantasy, but it is also not a typical result. Historically, achieving it has required a perfect combination of decades of time, immense patience, constant reinvestment, and the ability to remain fully invested even during periods when the returns looked unimpressive.

The most important takeaway for you is not the final size of the growth, but understanding the structure behind it. Investors who focus on controlling their own behavior, committing to the long term, and acting consistently give compounding a chance to work its magic.

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.