Founded in 1993, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) has become one of the leading technology companies. Here’s a look at how the shares have performed since the IPO in 1999.

What happened: Now a top-notch technology company, Nvidia has evolved over time to become a leader in several market areas.

In 1999, the company invented the GPU (graphics processing unit), now a staple in the computing and gaming markets.

Over the years, Nvidia has signed partnerships with companies such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony Corp Group (NYSE: SONY) to place Nvidia units inside game consoles.

The company continues to innovate and shows no signs of slowing down, which is part of why the shares have risen dramatically in value and the company is now worth over $600 billion.

Investors who saw early signs of Nvidia’s success were handsomely rewarded.

Related Link: Benzinga asks: Which company could join the $1 trillion market cap club next?

Invest $1000 in NVDA: Nvidia held its IPO on January 22, 1999, with shares offered at $12 each. A $1,000 investment would have purchased 83.33 shares.

Since the IPO, Nvidia has carried out several stock splits which have increased the number of shares held by existing shareholders. The action had 2:1 splits in 2000, 2001 and 2006, a 3:2 split in 2007 and a 4:1 split in 2021.

The 83.33 shares would total 3,999.84 after the stock splits.

Based on a stock price of $264.95 at the time of writing, the $1,000 investment in Nvidia at the time of its IPO would now be worth $1,059,757.61.

Investing $1,000 in Nvidia when it went public would have created millionaires, assuming they held onto shares that long.

NVDA Price Action: The shares have traded between $115.66 and $346.47 over the past 52 weeks. The shares have risen almost 800% in the past five years and more than 5,800% in the past 10 years, also rewarding recent investors.

Shares are down 17% since the start of the year.