If You’d Bought One Share of Nvidia at its IPO, Where Would That Riverboat Ride Have Taken You?
If you had—by fortune, whim, or dare—a solitary share in Nvidia at its public debut, you’d no longer be in possession of one mere slip of paper. Thanks to Wall Street’s peculiar fondness for arithmetic acrobatics (stock splits), you’d be the proud holder of a positively unruly herd: 480 shares. That’s right, your quiet, singular stock would have multiplied faster than rumors in a small town, courtesy of half a dozen splits that chopped, diced, and reconstituted your investment with the vigor of an overzealous cook eager to stretch a meal for twenty out of one sorry chicken.