My Grandfather was an engineer with Exxon-Mobil in the 1950s and 1960s.
His son, my uncle David, fought in Vietnam and while he was there in 1968 my grandfather gifted him with Exxon-Mobil stock. My grandfather died while my uncle was still overseas and my uncle never really recovered emotionally from this loss and the horrors of the war. He became something of a hermit and a hoarder until his recent death.

My other uncle who is now handling David's estate found that these shares given in 1968 were never sold. I do not know how many shares at this point, but he had them 55+ years. In 1968, Exxon (then known as Mobil) was a well-established, solid business with years of history, and one of the largest corporations in the world at that time - not a speculative investment like an Apple or Microsoft in its early years

In 1968, Mobil shares were being sold at around $0.20/share (if my info is correct). In addition, the stock has split 5 times since then, so every share from 1968 has become 32 shares today. Exxon stock is now at $118/share. The average dividend over the last 55 years has been $1.42 per share, but in reality it increased every year since 1981 from $0.69 to today’s $3.80. Imagine if those dividends were re-invested into shares! I seriously doubt that my uncle re-invested dividends over the years, but just imagine. The thought experiment I gave my children was to pretend that at age 20 they had bought $500 worth of shares in their Roth IRA and that it was the only time they ever invested. I asked them to give me an approximation of how much they would have from that single investment if they retired at age 75.

Smufty - if any of the above numbers are wrong, let me know. I find it fascinating.