You Could Pay For 12 Years Of Netflix Subscription If You Invested $1,000 When 'Squid Game' Was Released

A third and final season of the hit series "Squid Game" fell shy of premiere records for streaming giant Netflix Inc. NFLX but managed to turn in a three-day record.

With the third season the finale of the original series, here's a look back at the release of "Squid Game" in 2021 and how much investors could have made following Netflix's success.

What Happened: The nine-episode first season of "Squid Game" was released on Sept. 17, 2021, and went on to break records for the streaming platform.

Hundreds of millions of households around the world watched the first season in its first month of release, with Netflix reporting a record of 1.65 billion hours of the series streamed during its first four weeks.

Set in South Korea, the series centered on a secret contest featuring 456 players facing financial hardships who competed for a huge cash prize of 45.6 billion South Korean won, or approximately $38.5 million.

The players quickly learn that the children's games they must win are lethal — losing means death, with only one survivor allowed to remain.

Still ranking as Netflix's most-watched series, the first season has more than 265 million viewers with over 2.2 billion hours watched.

A highly anticipated second season was released on Dec. 26, 2024, with seven new episodes. The series drew 68 million viewers during its first week, setting a new record for Netflix premieres.

The third and final season brings back Seong Gi-hun (aka Player 456), portrayed on screen by Lee Jung-jae. Director and writer Hwang Dong-Hyuk also returned for the third season.

Investing $1,000 in NFLX Stock: Netflix stock soared to its previous all-time highs back in November 2021, helped by the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased number of people streaming movies and shows at home, as movie theaters were shut down.

The critical acclaim for "Squid Game" and the series being talked about around the world may have also contributed to Netflix's stock surge.

Netflix stock began falling in late 2021 and continued to decline into 2022 before starting an upward trend that led to new all-time highs set in 2024 and multiple times throughout 2025.

On Sept. 17, 2021, Netflix stock hit a high of $590.28. An investor could have purchased 1.69 NFLX stock with $1,000 at the time.

Today, the $1,000 investment would be worth $2,151.64 based on a price of $1,273.16 at the time of writing. This represents a return of 115.2% over the nearly the past four years.

While small investors wouldn’t come close to earning the $38.5 million “Squid Game” prize, betting on Netflix stock at the show’s release would have beaten the S&P 500’s returns.

In fact, the $1,151.64 gained in profits along the way could pay for a Netflix streaming subscription for many months. An investor could cash out the profits and pay for the Standard $17.99 monthly plan for 64.0 months, or five years and four months. Those willing to sit through ads could use the $1,151.64 in profits to pay for 144.0 months of Netflix with ads ($7.99), or 12 years.

What’s Next: While “Squid Game” may be coming to an end, it’s far from the end of Netflix’s streaming success.

Netflix will also continue to leverage its “Squid Game” intellectual property through a mobile game and as part of its expanding experiences business.

The company will also be releasing the second season of “Wednesday” in two parts across August and September. A new “Stranger Things” season will be released in three parts across November and December.

Netflix will also air two National Football League games on Christmas Day 2025.

It’s shaping up to be an exciting last six-plus months for Netflix, with more all-time highs potentially in store for the stock.

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