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A penny doubled daily vs $1 million

The classic compounding riddle as a 30-day race with a last-second twist.

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What the data shows

  • At Day 30, Penny doubled ranks #1 with $5.4M, ahead of $1,000,000 ($1M).
  • Back at Day 1, $1,000,000 was #1 with $1M.
  • The top spot changed hands once: Penny doubled at Day 28.

The data

Source: $0.01 doubled once a day for 30 days.

A penny doubled daily vs $1 million, Which would you take?, Day 1–Day 30
DatePenny doubled$1,000,000
Day 1$0$1M
Day 2$0$1M
Day 3$0$1M
Day 4$0$1M
Day 5$0$1M
Day 6$0$1M
Day 7$1$1M
Day 8$1$1M
Day 9$3$1M
Day 10$5$1M
Day 11$10$1M
Day 12$20$1M
Day 13$41$1M
Day 14$82$1M
Day 15$164$1M
Day 16$328$1M
Day 17$655$1M
Day 18$1.3K$1M
Day 19$2.6K$1M
Day 20$5.2K$1M
Day 21$10.5K$1M
Day 22$21K$1M
Day 23$41.9K$1M
Day 24$83.9K$1M
Day 25$168K$1M
Day 26$336K$1M
Day 27$671K$1M
Day 28$1.3M$1M
Day 29$2.7M$1M
Day 30$5.4M$1M

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Frequently asked questions

Where does this data come from?

$0.01 doubled once a day for 30 days. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

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