Buy-in: $10,000
Start date: October 10, 2020
End date: October 10, 2030
WTF is this?
The ultimate endurance contest – a 10-year investment challenge where each participant starts with $10k and makes their bets to see who can go the farthest. Winner gets the majority of half the gains for everyone participating.
10 years ago, if you had invested $10k in NFLX or AMZN, your investment would be worth around $200k or more (as of Sept. 2020). What will you invest in today that will lead to monstrous returns?
Rules:
- The Overall Winner is the person with the largest Ending Balance on the End Date.
- Players may only make long investments in publicly traded equities to track performance; purchasing or selling options or other derivatives are forbidden.
- Players must open a separate brokerage account dedicated to the challenge. Any promotional incentives (free shares) or bonuses are not valid for this game.
- Players may actively trade their portfolio but any capital gains taxes or other fees are the sole responsibility of the player.
- Outside capital infusions are not allowed at any point during the game.
- Players are required to provide regular statements of their accounts, including current list of positions and cost basis on a monthly or quarterly basis, to all other players of the game.
- Players must report any trade (buy or sell) to the group within 48 hours of execution. Players must include trade date, quantity and transaction price. Players must also post screenshot of their portfolio account after each transaction.
- Tax liabilities generated from dividends, M&A proceeds or any other transactions will be the sole responsibility of the player and will be ignored for in determining the winner of this game.
- Any fines/bail/attorney costs for fraud and/or insider trading will be paid by the offending party.
- Failure to abide by any of these rules will result in disqualification.
- Rule changes (including changes to any of the above) require consent of at least [2/3rds] of all players, including the player in the lead as of the last reporting period.
Payouts:
- Any player with less than a $10,000 Ending Balance on the End Date (Unqualified Player) makes no payment into the Prize Pool.
- Any player with more than a $10,000 Ending Balance on the End Date but is not the Overall Winner (Qualified Player) pays into the Prize Pool the following amount:
- 50%*(Ending Balance – $10,000)*(1 – Tax Rate).
- Tax Rate is defined as the highest long term capital gains tax rate including state and local taxes, as applicable, as of the End Date of any of the Qualified Players.
- Example of payment by a Qualified Player:
- Ending Balance on the End Date = $43,000.00
- Highest long term capital gains tax rate = 37% federal + 13.3% CA state income tax = 50.3%
- Payment = 50%*($43,000.00-$10,000.00)(1-50.3%) = $8,200.50
- In the event of a tie, the winners will equally share the pool.
- The Overall Winner is obligated to furnish to all players with celebratory activities (e.g. dinner, golf, drinks, etc.) to be determined.
Awards:
- The Overall Winner will receive 70% of the Prize Pool.
- The Annual Game Leader will be the player with the highest Annual Percentage Gain measured every October 10th, beginning October 10, 2021 (and assuming $10,000.00 in 2020) and ending on October 10, 2030. The Annual Game Leader of each year will receive 2% of the Prize Pool.
- Annual Percentage Gain = (Ending Balance in Year X – Ending Balance in Year (X-1)/Ending Balance in Year (X-1)
- Example:
- Ending Balance in Year 2025 = $25,000.00
- Ending Balance in Year 2024 = $17,000.00
- Annual Percentage Gain = ($25,000.00 – $17,000.00)/$17,000.00 = +47.06%
- Player with the highest Annual Percentage Gain will be the Annual Game Leader for that year.
- Players may qualify for multiple Annual Game Leader prizes and does not require a positive Ending Balance at the End Date.
- The Best Trade will receive 10% of the Prize Pool. The Best Trade is an Eligible Position with the greatest absolute percentage increase from principal invested (dividend income will be ignored).
- An Eligible Position is defined as an investment with a minimum initial investment position of at least $500.
- Tax lots will be considered individually but must satisfy the requirements of an Eligible Position.
- All players will be eligible for the Annual Game Leader and Best Trade prizes, regardless of their Ending Balance.
- All prizes will be paid at the conclusion of the game.
Summary:
- Overall winner: 70% of Prize Pool
- Annual Game Leader: 2% of Prize Pool (total 10 years)
- Best Trade: 10% of Prize Pool
Once the game starts, all participants will have access to a shared spreadsheet where they can keep their tabs updated with their trades.