Cisco Shares Went Public 36 Years Ago. If You'd Invested $1,000 Then, Here's How Much You'd Have Today.

On Feb. 16, 1990, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) went public at $18 per share. The then-$224 million company, whose software enabled computer networks to link up over greater distances, was created by two computer support staffers at Stanford University who had been tasked with helping to expand the computer network across campus. Realizing the commercial potential of the "network extension cord" that they had created, they quit their jobs to found Cisco in 1984. The company's routers and switches were in ...