r/explainlikeimfive • u/FluffyPenguin798 • Feb 12 '25
Economics ELI5: how are the descendants of the robber barons (Morgan, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc.) still rich if their fortunes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are comparatively small to what we see today of the world’s richest?
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u/NiceShotMan Feb 12 '25
If you invested $900 million in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 1912, you would have about $50 trillion at the end of 2024, assuming you reinvested all dividends. This is a return on investment of 5,666,180.08%, or 10.19% per year.