Nvidia (NVDA) has been a massive creator of wealth, with $10,000 invested 10 years ago growing to over $2 million by late 2025. While future growth may not match that 25,300% surge, Nvidia's dominance in AI chips and software (CUDA) suggests it remains a strong, long-term growth stock that can significantly boost retirement portfolios, though turning a small investment into a million dollars is now less likely.
If you had invested $10,000 in Nvidia stock 10 years ago, you'd have $2.5 million today, or a 25,300% gain. Turning $10,000 into $1 million is a 10,000% gain, and it's a rare stock that can achieve that, even over a long period of time.
Buffett likely has great respect for Nvidia's business model
And while Buffett has largely avoided high-growth tech stocks over the decades due to his well-known preference for investing in companies he understands, he likely has a ton of respect for the company's business model.
So why hasn't Buffett invested in Nvidia? It's easy to see why so many investors are still bullish on Nvidia. However, Buffett famously avoided tech stocks throughout most of his investing career, saying that he preferred evergreen businesses that generated predictable long-term returns.
Nvidia's monster gains are hard to fathom
Nvidia shares have produced a total return of 1,360% in the past five years (as of Jan. 16). This impressive gain would've turned a $1,000 starting capital outlay into $14,590 today.
From $5,000 to nearly $1 million in a decade
This amount assumes you reinvested the modest dividends Nvidia pays.
However, two other AI stocks stood out as most popular with billionaire investors. Half of the billionaires on the list bought either Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) or Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) in Q3.
A 2019 study by Harvard Business Review found either Vanguard, BlackRock or State Street is the largest listed owner of 88% of S&P 500 companies. There is a perception that a few select companies own a vast majority of the stock market.
If you don't have enough exposure to Nvidia in your portfolio, it's not too late to buy. However, if you don't want to invest in Nvidia separately, it's a large part of some common indexes, so buying into funds that track them would also add meaningful exposure.
The Largest Concentration of Employee Wealth in History
Google's IPO created roughly 900 millionaires in a day. Nvidia has created an estimated 27,000+ millionaires — with roughly half of them now worth more than $25 million.
A gain of over 22,000%
If you had invested $10,000 in Nvidia 10 years ago and held on through all the flat, rocky, and exhilarating years that followed, your current investment would be worth well over $2.2 million.
No, Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway do not directly own Nvidia (NVDA) stock, sticking to his value investing principles, but they have gained indirect exposure and profits through large holdings in S&P 500 index funds (like SPY and VOO) that contain Nvidia due to its high market cap, and by investing heavily in companies like Alphabet (Google) that are major buyers of Nvidia's AI chips, making it a proxy for the AI boom.
NVIDIA Price Return Performance In 2025
As the demand for hardware supporting AI and high-performance computing is likely to remain strong, NVDA is well-positioned to benefit.
Nvidia is forecast to deliver impressive growth yet again in 2026. Nebius Group should put up remarkable growth this year. The Trade Desk is set to bounce back in 2026.
Only a small fraction of Americans, around 3% to 4.7%, actually retire with $1 million or more in retirement accounts, according to Federal Reserve data, despite many feeling they need that much for comfort. The median savings for those approaching retirement (ages 65-74) is much lower, around $200,000-$609,000, making the million-dollar milestone rare, though "401(k) millionaires" are growing in number.
To make $3,000 a month ($36,000/year) from investments, you need a significant lump sum or consistent, high-yield income streams, with estimates ranging from roughly $300,000 at a 12% yield to over $700,000 for stable Dividend Aristocrats, depending on your investment type, dividend yield, risk tolerance, and strategy. A simple formula is: Investment Needed = ($3,000 x 12) / Annual Dividend Yield.