What if you invested in Amazon in 1997?
AMZN · Technology · Data through 2026-06-01
If you invested $1,000 in Amazon in 1997
The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $15,972(+1497.2%)
The S&P 500 returned $15,972 on the same $1,000. Amazon beat the market by $3,500,161.
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Compare Amazon to another stock
See how Amazon stacks up since 1997, head to head.
What if Amazon keeps this up?
Project forward at Amazon's 31.9% historical growth rate. See 5-30 year scenarios.
Growth of $1,000
Amazon vs. S&P 500 vs. US Dollar, 1997 to present
Year-by-Year Returns
$1,000 invested in Amazon starting January 1997
| Year | Price | Value | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | $0.08 | $1,000 | - |
| 1998 | $0.25 | $3,278 | +227.8% |
| 1999 | $2.92 | $38,979 | +1089.2% |
| 2000 | $3.23 | $43,042 | +10.4% |
| 2001 | $0.87 | $11,542 | -73.2% |
| 2002 | $0.71 | $9,460 | -18% |
| 2003 | $1.09 | $14,567 | +54% |
| 2004 | $2.52 | $33,600 | +130.7% |
| 2005 | $2.16 | $28,813 | -14.2% |
| 2006 | $2.24 | $29,880 | +3.7% |
| 2007 | $1.88 | $25,113 | -16% |
| 2008 | $3.88 | $51,800 | +106.3% |
| 2009 | $2.94 | $39,213 | -24.3% |
| 2010 | $6.27 | $83,607 | +113.2% |
| 2011 | $8.48 | $113,093 | +35.3% |
| 2012 | $9.72 | $129,627 | +14.6% |
| 2013 | $13.27 | $177,000 | +36.5% |
| 2014 | $17.93 | $239,127 | +35.1% |
| 2015 | $17.73 | $236,353 | -1.2% |
| 2016 | $29.35 | $391,333 | +65.6% |
| 2017 | $41.17 | $548,987 | +40.3% |
| 2018 | $72.54 | $967,260 | +76.2% |
| 2019 | $85.94 | $1,145,820 | +18.5% |
| 2020 | $100.44 | $1,339,147 | +16.9% |
| 2021 | $160.31 | $2,137,467 | +59.6% |
| 2022 | $149.57 | $1,994,313 | -6.7% |
| 2023 | $103.13 | $1,375,067 | -31.1% |
| 2024 | $155.20 | $2,069,333 | +50.5% |
| 2025 | $237.68 | $3,169,066 | +53.1% |
| 2026 | $239.30 | $3,190,667 | +0.7% |
What this return means
$1,000 put into Amazon (AMZN) in 1997 turned into $3,516,133. That is a +351,513% total return, or roughly 3,516x your money, measured through 2026-06-01.
That is a compound rate of about 31.9% a year, an extreme pace that few holdings sustain for 29.5 years. The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund over the same span would be about $15,972, so Amazon beat the index by roughly $3,500,161. The index compounded at about 9.8% a year over that period.
The year-by-year record shows how bumpy the ride was. The best single year was 1999 at +1089.2%, and the worst was 2001 at -73.2%. At its lowest point the position was down about 78% from an earlier high. These figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, trading fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.
None of this is a recommendation. It is a record of what already happened, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
Amazon at different times
See how the start year changes the outcome
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Numbers worth sharing
Occasional data drops when something interesting surfaces. No schedule, just signal.
For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All calculations are based on split-adjusted closing prices from Yahoo Finance and do not account for dividends, taxes, or trading fees. See our methodology and full disclaimer.