Image source: Getty

Every investor dreams about owning a stock that goes up by five, 10, or even 20 times in value, turning a modest investment in a truly life-changing amount of money. Of course, finding stocks that produce those kind of returns is quite challenging, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

I combed through a huge list of stocks and found three companies that would have turned a modest $5,000 investment into more than $100,000 in just the last decade. Read below to see the stocks which stocks offered up these jaw-dropping returns.

No. 1: Amazon.com

It should come as no surprise to see that Amazon (AMZN -1.01%) is part of this list. Over the last 10 years, the house that Bezos built produced an amazing return of 2,656% for shareholders. That would have turned a $5,000 investment into a more than $132,000 windfall. 

The company's terrific stock market performance has been powered by its incredible business growth. Amazon has relentlessly gobbled up market share from retailers of all sizes, and in 2015, the company's total sales crossed the $100 billion mark. It was the fastest any company ever breached that figure.

Image source: Amazon

More recently, Amazon has become far more than just an online retailer. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos often talks about the company's three "dreamy businesses" -- Marketplace, Prime, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- that each continue to grow at remarkable rates. 

All three are impressive, but AWS is particularly noteworthy. Amazon now runs the largest cloud platform in the world, and annual sales are currently running north of $10 billion per year. Its huge scale allows it to serve businesses of all sizes, and this unit generates huge amounts of cash. Despite its size, some analysts are forecasting that this business unit's revenue will grow by around 25% this year, and contribute meaningfully to the company's bottom line.

No. 2: Ebix 

You may have never heard of Ebix (EBIX) before -- unless you're in the insurance industry. It specializes in creating software for insurance companies, which has turned out to be a wildly profitable niche.

Ebix was once just a small player in the industry, but that all changed when CEO Robin Raina took over. Raina took the company on an acquisition binge, which helped to propel revenue and profits far higher.

Image source: Ebix

The strategy has clearly worked out quite well for long-term shareholders. The company's stock has skyrocketed by 2,911% over the past decade, meaning a modest $5,000 investment would have turned into more than $145,000.

Still, it hasn't exactly been a smooth ride. The company's growth by acquisition strategy is a tricky one to pull off, which can make it difficult to understand its financials. Ebix has even been investigated by the U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia for its business practices. In addition, the company has regularly carried a huge amount of short interest, and several short-sellers have called it "a house of cards." There was also a time that Goldman Sachs tried to buy out Ebix back in 2013, but that ended up falling through.

And yet, through all the turmoil, Ebix's business and stock have continue to grow like wildfire. 

No. 3: Medivation 

Out list today concludes with the single best performing stocks over the past 10 years: Medivation (MDVN). Anyone who was smart enough to buy into this promising biotech in 2006 and hold on through today has enjoyed an unbelievable return of 5,154%. A $5,000 initial investment would have grown to become more than $257,000 at current prices.

So what caused the company to go on such a huge run? A decade ago, Medivation was just a clinical-stage biotech with an interesting compound that held potential, but the company didn't have any real revenue to speak of. Fast-forward to today, and that product candidate is now being marketed as Xtandi, a massively successful treatment for prostate cancer.

Image source: Medivation

Xtandi's market success is justified by its terrific clinical results. In late-stage trials, patients with metastatic prostate cancer who used Xtandi showed an increased overall survival to 18.4 months. That compared quite favorably to the 13.6 months for the patients who received placebo. In addition, Xtandi also can delay the need to start chemotherapy by 17 months, which is far higher than the 8.4 months offered by Johnson & Johnson's Zytiga.

The company's performance hasn't gone unnoticed, and several pharma giants are currently in a bidding war to buy it. Given Medivation's amazing track record of success, perhaps investors should be crossing their fingers that the company can remain independent.