Buffett's investment strategy turns $10,000 into $75,000

In a 10-year investment bet launched against professional hedge fund managers in 2007, Buffett's chosen S&P 500 index fund generated a 125.8% return between 2008 and 2017, outperforming its competitors. During the same period, the best-performing hedge fund returned just 87.7%. Buffett emphasized that high fund management fees played a significant role in the performance gap.

The growth of funds tracking the S&P 500 continued after the bet ended in 2017. According to calculations based on Vanguard S&P 500 ETF data, a $10,000 investment made at the end of 2017 would have grown to approximately $33,300 by October 2026, assuming dividends were reinvested. Combining both periods, an initial investment of $10,000 at the beginning of 2008 would have increased to approximately $75,000 over nearly 19 years. The annualized compound return was around 11%, despite the investment experiencing the 2008 financial crisis and several sharp market downturns in subsequent years.