[Alex]

Had to wonder if that is really a true story. First of all it is a really crappy bonus since in the late '40s Disney stock had tanked down to $3/share.

But starting from 1957 on, this is how many shares it would have taken in that year to be worth a million dollars:

No information is given on when she retired, but let's say she was getting one share of stock from the beginning in 1940 through 1970. The following is a chart, starting at year end in 1957 of how many shares it would have taken to be worth $1 million and how many she would have had.

1957 - 72,046 - 33 (2 for 1 split in 1956)
1958 - 23,391 - 34
1959 - 20,563 - 35
1960 - 35,087 - 36
1961 - 26,666 - 37
1962 - 35,087 - 38
1963 - 25,316 - 39
1964 - 21,978 - 40
1965 - 16,877 - 41
1966 - 12,618 - 42
1967 - 18,142 - 85 (2 for 1 split)
1968 - 11,764 - 86
1969 - 7,462 - 87
1970 - 7,092 - 88

1975 - 23,820 - 495 (2 for 1 in 1971 and another in 1972)

1980 - 19,512 - 500

1985 - 8,858 - 505


And is she were still getting one share every Christmas from 1940 through last year she would currently have around 12,311 shares (three more splits in '86 (4:1), '92 (4:1), and '98 (3:1)). And as of today those shares would be worth $384,718.

She may have ended up with a million dollars of Disney stock, but it wasn't by getting just one share every Christmas (unless he was giving her something other than common stock).



*Just a mindless diversion sparked by me wondering and figuring if I do the work I might as well share it.