This gentleman does interesting work which can be summarized as follows:

Most equity investments are not good: the “mean” for equity investments is much higher than the median as a concentrated group of winners drives average returns higher.

This follow-up piece confirms the long-term math of compounding, noting that Phillip Morris remains the all-time best equity investment in history. The catch:

Of course, most investors have horizons shorter than the 98 years for which CRSP data is available or the 72 years that comprises the shortest calendar time interval over which returns are computed.

Or, if you employed the Peter Lynch theory of investing, you were probably unlikely to live to see the math if you invested in the product you know and love.