# What $10,000 in SPY in 1993 is worth today

> The original S&P 500 ETF turned early investors into millionaires, but cheaper alternatives now exist.
- Title: What $10,000 in SPY in 1993 is worth today · 24/7 Wall St.
- Summary: The original S&P 500 ETF turned early investors into millionaires, but cheaper alternatives now exist. A $10,000 investment in SPY at launch would be worth…
- Keywords: spy, voo, ivv, spym, rsp, s&p 500, etf, passive investing, state street, vanguard, blackrock, invesco
- Source: 24/7 Wall St. — https://247wallst.com/investing/etf/2026/09/18/a-10000-investment-in-spy-at-its-1993-launch-is-worth-this-much-today-without-you-adding-a-dime
- Author: Ryne Mauck
- Published: 2026-09-18T21:05:57+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: spy, voo, ivv, spym, rsp, s&p 500, etf, passive investing, state street, vanguard, blackrock, invesco
## The original bet paid off
$10,000 invested in SPY at its January 1993 launch is worth roughly $312,667 today. That's a 3,027% gain, or about 10.8% annually compounded over 33 years.
## SPY created the template
SPY was the first U.S.-listed ETF. State Street wrapped the S&P 500 in an exchange-traded package that every subsequent index fund has copied.
## Megacaps now dominate the index
NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Broadcom, Meta, and Tesla now drive a disproportionate share of daily moves. A handful of names control what broad market exposure means.
## Liquidity comes at a cost
SPY charges 0.0945% annually, roughly three times what cheaper peers charge. Its unit investment trust structure can't reinvest dividends internally between distributions.
## Vanguard's cheaper alternative
VOO tracks the same index at 0.03% and reinvests dividends immediately. The cost gap is small yearly but compounds to real money over decades.
## BlackRock matches the price
IVV is functionally interchangeable with VOO at 0.03%. It integrates better with workplace 401(k) plans that already use iShares building blocks.
## The cheapest option available
SPYM undercuts both at 0.02%, the lowest expense ratio in the category. Its lower share price makes it useful for small, regular dollar-cost averaging.
## Equal weight changes everything
RSP owns the same 500 companies but weights each at roughly 0.2%, rebalanced quarterly. It's a bet on mean reversion within the same benchmark.
## Equal weight costs more
RSP charges 0.20% annually, roughly seven times what VOO or IVV charge. It has historically trailed cap-weighted peers during long megacap runs.
## Match the fund to your needs
Traders stick with SPY for liquidity. Long-term investors choose VOO or IVV for lower costs. Small contributors benefit from SPYM's lower share price.
## Key takeaway

A $10,000 investment in SPY at launch would be worth $312,667 today, but lower-cost alternatives like VOO and IVV now offer the same exposure for less.