Chipmaker firm Nvidia’s 591,078% rally to most valuable stock came in waves

The year was 1999. Steve Jobs had recently returned to lead Apple. Intel was the dominant force in semiconductors. And a little-known chipmaker named Nvidia made its debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

It took less than three years for Nvidia Corp. to ascend into the S&P 500 — replacing the disgraced oil-trading conglomerate Enron, no less.

But even then, few people would have bet that the company would go on to become the best performing stock of the last quarter-century, posting a total return of 591,078 per cent since its initial public offering, including reinvested dividends.