Dad who invested in Apple stock 15 years ago shares current value on Tim Cook's last day
The stock market can be a lucrative game if you know how to play it properly, and although it's been a pretty rough year in terms of the War in Iran sending fuel prices soaring and stocks tumbling, many have still struck it rich.
We've previously covered how investing in Apple is a popular choice, with NFL bigwig Ron Gronkowski forgetting his $69,000 investment made in 2014. Gronkowski was shocked to learn that it had grown to $250,000 in 2016, and at the time of writing in 2026, that same $69,000 invested in September 2014 would be worth $1,010,966.
It's much the same with Forrest Gump's Apple investment, apparently being worth a life-changing sum of money all these years later.
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That's all well and good for sports superstars and fictional characters, but what about us average Joes? One father has taken to Reddit to reveal how an Apple investment from the start of Tim Cook's tenure has matured from a tiny acorn into a massive oak tree.
It's the dawn of a new era for Apple, as Tim Cook transitions into his role as executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors, and John Ternus takes over as CEO.
Posting on Reddit, r/doughboy_491 explained how he made the investment 15 years ago and how, in 2026, it's one of the largest holdings in his daughter's impressive portfolio that's worth over $1 million.
Cook becoming CEO almost matches the day and month of his departure, with the OP's original investment in 200 shares (at around $14) now being worth $65,161.
Adding $62,354.68 to the initial investment, this represents an eye-watering 2221.94% profit. Not bad for a day's work, and we imagine he's kicking himself that he didn't invest more.
Then again, like all these things, we're sure we would've done things differently.
Others were amazed by the investment, with another adding: "I had a college friend that dumped a bunch of his savings into AAPL right when it peaked in 2012. Business Insider literally wrote an article featuring my friend essentially dunking on him for making a bad play. I hope he held onto those shares."
A third said: "Top dad across multiple decades! Love to see the financial literacy and habit building. Your daughter will be a lifetime investor because she’s already lived interest compounding!"
Further down in the comments, this doting father replied with advice to those who complained that his daughter got an unfair start when compared to them: "OP here. I’m not going to try to convince you that life isn’t unfair but I will tell you that it is possible to generate this kind of generational wealth with fairly normal incomes."
His replies were full of plenty of words of wisdom, like how he was late in getting into Nvidia, which has been one of the most booming stocks in recent memory.
In terms of what the best time machine stock of the past 25 years would've been, Apple is in second place to a surprising winner.
$10,000 invested in Apple back in 2001 would be worth $9.56 million ($11.42M with dividends) now, which is nothing compared to a $10,000 Monster Beverage Corp. investment. Having transformed from a juice company into the energy drink giant it is today, back in 2002, your $10,000 would now be worth $22.72 million.
Just imagine the portfolio of this guy's daughter if he'd put his money where his mouth was!