In an inspiring post that has gone viral on Reddit, a user shared how years of patience, research, and emotional discipline turned a $36,000 investment in Nvidia into a staggering $1.05 million — a personal record for the investor who held on for eight years despite market volatility and temptations to sell. He said, “Today marks perhaps my greatest investing milestone of all time!”.
The investor, who began buying Nvidia stock in early 2017 after purchasing a GTX 1080 graphics card, saw potential in the company’s role in the then-booming crypto mining world. “During a gold rush, buy the company selling the shovels,” he recalled telling himself when Bitcoin first hit $20,000.
Despite crypto’s crash shortly after, the investor kept faith in Nvidia’s broader future, gradually accumulating 6,500 shares. Over time, his conviction shifted from crypto to electric vehicles, and finally to the AI revolution. “In 2023, AI image and video generation changed everything. I realized Nvidia would be central to the data centers powering this wave,” he wrote.
From 2017 to 2021, he made several lump-sum purchases, the largest being 400 shares at $14 in July 2021. His average cost per share was just $5.60, thanks to stock splits and early buys.
The real game-changer came in 2024-2025. As Nvidia stock soared past $160 in July 2025, he followed through on a promise to himself: if the portfolio showed $1 million in gains, he would sell. “I wanted to do the trade myself, not with an automated trigger. I waited and it paid off.”
On July 10, 2025, he sold his entire position at $163 per share, realizing a total of $1,059,591 on a $36,352 investment—marking over $1.02 million in gains.
The post struck a chord with Reddit users, especially long-term investors, many of whom praised his discipline and vision. He closed his post by encouraging others to take the long view: “Hopefully this success story inspires those who, like me, just want to buy shares, hold them, and offload when the time seems right.”
Key Figures
Initial Investment: $36,352
Final Sale Value: $1,059,591
Total Gain: $1,023,238
Holding Period: 8 years
Average Cost per Share: $5.60
Exit Price per Share: $163