In 1959, A Vermont Gas Station Attendant Spent $2,380 On His First 39 Shares Of Stock. Over The Next 5 Decades, He Built A 95+ Stock Portfolio Of Blue Chip Dividend Payers. By 2014, Ronald Read’s Portfolio Was Worth Nearly $8 Million
A gas station attendant and part-time janitor from Vermont quietly accumulated over 95 stocks across five decades, and what his neighbors discovered after his death in 2014 stunned an entire community.
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A Vermont Gas Pump and a California Utility
On January 13, 1959, a Vermont man bought 39 shares of Pacific Gas & Electric for about $2,380. . A gas station attendant was buying part of a utility important for America.
Ronald Read worked as an attendant and mechanic at Haviland’s Service Station for about 25 years and spent 17 years as a part-time janitor at J.C. Penney, until 1997. These were working-class jobs.
How the First Purchase Started a Five-Decade Habit
Read’s fortune came from more than five decades of regular purchases paid for out of those two paychecks, plus dividends he reinvested along the way. That first block of utility stock is simply where the habit started.
A Portfolio Built From Boring Blue Chips
He eventually held 95+ stocks focused on dividend-paying blue chips: Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG | PG Price Prediction), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) and Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW). He bought these over his lifetime, held them rather than trading, and avoided tech stocks he didn’t understand.
Anyone could have used this method. He picked unglamorous companies that paid dividends, reinvested the income, rarely sold, and kept going for longer than most people work (we ranked ten of today’s longest-running dividend growers by valuation in a free Dividend Kings report if you want a starting short list).
Ronald Read’s Nearly $8 Million Reveal
Ronald Read died on June 2, 2014, at age 92 his portfolio was worth nearly $8 million.
Some people knew part of the picture. His bank and his family had some awareness of his holdings. What his community didn’t know was how big the portfolio had grown.
Where the Money Went
NBC News reported that $4.8 million went to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. NBC News also reported that $1.2 million went to Brooks Memorial Library. According to NBC News, $2 million went to stepchildren, caregivers and friends.
What We Can Copy From Read’s Strategy, And What We Can’t.
He had modest wages and no financial training, and he got there through time and consistency alone. The parts we can copy are simple: reinvest dividends, hold for decades, keep adding money, and skip businesses we can’t explain.
On the other hand, five decades is longer than many investors have to stay in the market. Read’s strategy only generates massive returns by staying invested for the long haul.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.
