# MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital)

Total cash returned over cash put in, ignoring how long it took.

A $500k stake that pays back $1.5M is a 3.0x MOIC, and unlike [IRR](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/irr) it ignores how long the money was out. It is the number the [search-fund](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/search-fund) studies report beside IRR, and they do not agree: IESE's 2024 edition puts international funds at 2.0x, while Stanford's 2026 edition, with data through the end of 2025, reports 4.75x for the US and Canada. IRR alone can flatter a fast, small exit, so read the multiple and the hold length together. A 2.0x in three years and a 2.0x in ten years hand investors the same dollars at very different annual rates. Which one your backer is solving for is not a neutral choice. A fund manager answering to [limited partners](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/gp-lp) is usually judged on IRR, and an early sale flatters it, so pressure to sell can arrive before the multiple has finished growing.

In numbers: Investors put $2,000,000 into a deal and receive $5,000,000 when it sells: a 2.5x MOIC, whether the hold ran four years or eight.

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/moic
Not dated: A definition is editorial: what a term means, why it matters, and an example. None of it reads a source that can go stale, so there is no date to take and a stamped one would be the build time wearing a costume.

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt