Here’s a powerful and insightful breakdown of how to make money through stock market investing, with a focus on the best-performing companies over the past 30 years and the principles behind their explosive growth:
Best Stocks Over the Past 30 Years
According to multiple authoritative sources, here are some of the best-performing stocks from roughly 1995 to 2025:
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NVIDIA (NVDA) — The undeniable tech heavyweight. Over the past 30 years, it soared by approximately 282,600% (some analyses even cite 306,500%) StatMusearfa.marketsWTOP News. Back in January 1999, a $10,000 investment would now be worth more than $32 million WTOP News.
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Monster Beverage (MNST) — A surprising superstar in consumer staples. Up ~174,400% from 1994–2024, and some data suggest over 500,000% into 2025 StatMuse+1.
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Amazon (AMZN) — Revolutionized retail and cloud. Generated returns between 152,800% to 249,000% over ~25–30 years StatMuseU.S. News MoneyFinbold.
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Apple (AAPL) — The iconic tech giant delivered massive returns: 75,600% to 81,500% over the same period arfa.marketsStatMuseU.S. News Money.
Other notable long-term winners include Netflix, Ross Stores, ResMed, Pool Corporation, Biogen, Altria, NVR, and Texas Pacific Land Trust StatMusearfa.marketsInvestopedia.
Why These Stocks Delivered Massive Gains
Research shows that just a few stocks—a small percent—are responsible for the vast majority of market returns over decades Barron'sYouTube. Here’s what sets them apart:
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Disruptive innovation: NVIDIA rode the AI and GPU wave; Amazon transformed e-commerce and cloud; Apple redefined mobile computing.
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Scalability & strong brands: Monster leveraged global distribution partnerships (like with Coca-Cola) to scale significantly.
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Durable competitive advantages: Strong moats, visionary leadership, and bold capital deployment helped companies like Apple and Amazon endure through cycles.
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Letting winners run: Long-term compounding turned gains into fortunes—selling early would have meant missing exponential growth Barron'sReddit.
A Redditor captures it well:
“If we had sold during these major drops, we would have missed out on the subsequent huge gains… let your winners keep winning” Reddit.
Investing Lessons for a 30-Year Horizon
| Key Lesson | Description |
|---|---|
| Stay Invested | Focus on long-term, not timing the market. Compounding works over years. |
| Diversify | Invest across sectors to capture both stable and high-growth winners. |
| Identify trends early | Tech, AI, e-commerce—stocks like NVIDIA, Amazon, Apple rode massive shifts. |
| Patience beats panic | Even top stocks dip heavily (e.g., Nvidia dropped 66% in 2022) Reddit. Stick with them if the thesis holds. |
| Mix growth with stability | Use ETFs or funds for safety, and individual stocks for outsized upside. |
Summary: Stocks That Became Fortunes
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NVIDIA led with astonishing ~300,000%+ returns.
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Monster Beverage, Amazon, and Apple followed, all delivering multi-thousand-percent gains over decades.
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Other sectors—like healthcare, consumer retail, and land—also produced winners (e.g., ResMed, Pool Corp, Ross Stores).
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The key is being in the right stock and staying invested.
