46 firms accounted for half the wealth generated by the stock market over the past 100 years, researchers say

Cnbc · May 08, 2026 · 865 words · By Ryan Ermey

Stock Market Returns Passive vs Active Investing Wealth Accumulation

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What to know about Stock Market Returns

In recent years, stock market observers have noticed that a small group of mega-sized technology stocks, nicknamed the "Magnificent Seven," have driven an outsized portion of the return in the broad stock market.

Claims checked 13

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center67%

Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

A decade ago, it was FANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google — sometimes, Apple too) leading the charge.

Common ground

These cadres tend to make headlines because they go against the idea that the stock market is a rising tide that, over time, lifts all boats.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Stock Market Returns story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that a $1 investment in Treasurys... would have netted an investor $25.34 per dollar invested?
How does this story connect Stock Market Returns with Passive vs Active Investing over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/08/what-investors-can-learn-from-100-years-of-stock…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 6

schedule Pending 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

check_circle Corroborated 2

info

Claim 1: “a $1 investment in Treasurys... would have netted an investor $25.34 per dollar invested.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence describes what Treasury bonds are and current yields, but does not provide the historical return figure of $25.34 per dollar invested for the specific sample period.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — We sell Treasury Bonds for a term of either 20 or 30 years. Bonds pay a fixed rate of interest every six months until they mature. You can hold a bond until it matures or sell it before it matures. Tr…
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/marketable-securities/treasur…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — View live US Government Bonds 10 YR Yield chart to track the latest bond price changes.
https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/TVC-US10Y/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — View a 10-year yield estimated from the average yields of a variety of Treasury securities with different maturities derived from the Treasury yield curve.Select a date that will equal 100 for your cu…
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DGS10

info

Claim 2: “over the past 100 years, just 46 firms accounted for half of the wealth created by the stock market.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim that 46 firms accounted for half of the wealth created is explicitly stated in one source. Other results are generic facts about the number 46.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 46 is a composite number, a centered triangular number, [1] and a Wedderburn-Etherington number, and an Erdős–Woods number. [2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/46_(number)

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jan 6, 2013 · Some interesting non-math facts about the number 46: In chemistry, 46 is the atomic number of Palladium. In human biology, there are 46 human chromosomes. There are 22 pairs of autosomes…
https://discover.hubpages.com/education/Math-Facts-Of-The-Nu…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The number 46 in movies and music In movies and music, the number 46 has made its presence felt in various ways. For instance, the 2013 film "46 Holes" is a thriller that revolves around the number 46…
https://numeraly.com/about-the-number-46/

info

Claim 3: “From 1926 through 2025, while the weighted average return among nearly 30,000 stocks was more than 30,000%, the median stock returned -6.9%”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific statistics (30,000% average vs -6.9% median) are mentioned in one relevant search result snippet (implied by the context of the '46 Firms' article), but the other search results for this claim are dictionary definitions of the word 'between'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Between has been used of more than two items since Old English; it is especially appropriate to signify a one-to-one relationship, regardless of the number of items.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/between

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — We use between to refer to two things which are clearly separated. We use among to talk about things which are not clearly separated because they are part of a group or crowd or mass of objects: …
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/between

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago · It is sometimes said that between usually applies to two things, while among applies to more than two things. According to the Oxford English Dictionary: "In all senses, between has been,…
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/between

help

Claim 4: “The highest performers... include Altria (formerly Philip Morris), industrial firm Vulcan Materials and IBM”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found for this claim.

info

Claim 5: “Over the past century, the broad stock market generated $91 trillion in wealth for investors”

SINGLE SOURCE

The $91 trillion figure is explicitly mentioned in one source. Other results are unrelated to the total wealth generated by the broad market.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — If you are a stock picker, you had better hope you are right in your stock selections or you have a high probability of underperforming the market. Over the 100-year period from 1926 to 2025, just 46 …
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-apple-nvidia-how-46-firm…

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web search NEUTRAL — the Nikkei- Japan’s main stock market index- has surged by 50.7% this year.
https://www.investopedia.com/markets-news-4427704

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web search NEUTRAL — Download a free audiobook version of "The Richest Man in Babylon" and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-edCheck out our full bo...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7HKvqRI_Bo

schedule

Claim 6: “Last year, 79% of large-company stock fund managers failed to keep up with the S&P 500, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 7: “a small group of mega-sized technology stocks, nicknamed the "Magnificent Seven," have driven an outsized portion of the return in the broad stock market.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that the 'Magnificent Seven' technology stocks have driven a significant portion of the broad stock market's returns.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Big Tech's Market Dominance Explained Through Key Charts From market cap to ETF weightings, these visuals show how much the Magnificent 7 shape today's market.
https://www.investopedia.com/the-mag-7-in-charts-how-big-tec…

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web search NEUTRAL — While these companies have undeniably delivered innovation and strong returns, their collective heft presents a complex challenge for market stability and the long-term health of investor portfolios. …
https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/article/marketmi…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The S&P 500 is at a new high, and investors have just a handful of stocks to thank for it. Change in total market value since Oct. 12, 2022 +70 'Magnificent Seven' technology stocks +60 ...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/22/business/magn…

check_circle

Claim 8: “A decade ago, it was FANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google — sometimes, Apple too) leading the charge.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the existence and historical market-leading role of the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google) approximately ten years ago.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Learn about FANG stocks, including Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google, their impressive growth, and how you can invest effectively in these tech giants.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fang-stocks-fb-amzn.asp

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web search NEUTRAL — Netflix has been the best-performing stock among the four, racking up a 1,247% gain over the ten-year period (splits adjusted). In second place is Amazon, with a more than 800% gain. If you had bought…
https://www.moneyshow.com/articles/tradingidea-60365/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — It's hard to believe that 10 years ago, the FANG stocks became an acronym that is still used today. A few days before my monthly appearance on Mad Money's "Off the Charts" segment, Jim Cramer asked me…
https://explosiveoptions.net/stock-market-analysis/ten-years…

schedule

Claim 9: “That marked the 16th year in a row that more than half of the pros lost to the index.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 10: “Investors in some 60% of stocks in Bessembinder's sample would have seen a reduction in wealth.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 11: “Over Bessembinder's 100-year sample, a value-weighted portfolio of all common stocks produced a return equal to $15,401 for every dollar invested.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence contains general information on how to calculate portfolio returns but does not mention the specific $15,401 figure associated with Bessembinder's sample.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Knowing how to calculate your portfolio's returns is essential to becoming a savvier investor. Learn the basic principles here to correctly calculate your investment portfolio returns.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/062215/how-do-i-cal…

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web search NEUTRAL — This chapter demonstrates how to calculate portfolio returns. We also show how to construct equal-weighted and value-weighted portfolios. We end the chapter by showing how to implement time-weighted r…
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-64155-9_…

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web search NEUTRAL — 4% of Stocks Created Wealth By James Parkyn - PWL Capital - Montreal How to ensure you own tomorrow's winners It's well known that owning stocks can generate great returns over the long run. Less know…
https://www.capitaltopics.com/blogue/4-of-stocks-created-wea…

info

Claim 12: “Hendrik Bessembinder, a professor at the Carey School of Business at Arizona State University”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results for this claim are generic search engine landing pages and do not contain information regarding Hendrik Bessembinder's professional affiliation.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Search with Microsoft Bing and use the power of AI to find information, explore webpages, images, videos, maps, and more. A smart search engine for the forever curious.
https://www.bing.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — Bing positions its Related Searches option near the top of results, on the left-hand side. Knowing that users scan from left to right and top to bottom, this makes perfect sense. Google, by contrast, …
https://www.icrossing.com/insights/bing-related-searches-usa…

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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 28, 2026 · Select Bing from the search engine dropdown, enter a seed keyword, and the tool will pull autocomplete-based expansions directly from Bing. These suggestions often mirror the related se…
https://macmyths.com/how-to-see-all-bing-related-searches/

help

Claim 13: “just 27.6% of stocks outperform the broad market”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found for this claim.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.