Going back in time

Here’s something to think about next time you pick up your iPhone — in other words, in about 10 seconds. This was in last week’s Atlantic:

“Let’s just say … you have access to a time machine. You’re totally going back to 1980 to buy Apple stock, right? That’s the year Apple Computer went public. (It dropped the “Computer” from its name to become Apple Inc. in 2007, right in time for the introduction of a transformative device: the smartphone.)

“If you had spent $1,000 on Apple stock in 1980, you would have been able to buy about 45 shares at $22 apiece. But! Apple shares have split four times since then—when a stock splits, it increases the number of shares an individual has—which puts the adjusted initial offering price at closer to 39 cents a share. Using that figure, an investment of $1,000 in Apple back in 1980 would yield close to $272,000 today.”

Hmph. Maybe Apple is working on that time machine? Might be nice. Email rrollins@coxohio.com.

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