If You Bought 1 Share of Coca-Cola at Its IPO, Here’s How Many Shares You Would Own Now

Coca-Cola (KO 0.77%) went public in 1919, and since that time, the stock has split quite a few times. So, let’s take a look at the history and what it would mean for an original Coca-Cola shareholder.

Before we can determine how many shares you’d have if you had bought one share at Coca-Cola’s initial public offering (IPO), we need to take a look at its stock split history. There has been a total of 11 stock splits throughout the company’s 105-year publicly traded history.

Data source: Coca-Cola.

As you can see, this split history would have led to a massive number of shares over time. One share of Coca-Cola purchased at the time of the 1919 IPO would have multiplied to a staggering 9,216 shares today.

When Coca-Cola went public in 1919, its shares were initially priced at $40. As of this writing, one share of Coca-Cola trades for about $69. But you’d own 9,216 of them. That initial $40 investment would be worth $635,904 today. Not only that, but you’d be bringing in almost $17,900 in dividend income every year.

A great example of long-term compounding

Of course, it’s fairly certain that nobody who is reading this actually bought a share of Coca-Cola in 1919 (although some people may have inherited shares that were purchased then). But this is a great example of the long-term power of compound returns. Imagine being able to spend $40 today that will eventually turn into a massive nest egg and $18,000 annual income stream for your children or grandchildren.