Asequence is defined recursively by f(1) = 16 and f(n) = 3f(n-1) +2. find f(4)

If you would like to find f(4), you can calculate this using the following steps:

f(1) = 16
f(n) = 3 * f(n-1) + 2
f(2) = 3 * f(2-1) + 2 = 3 * f(1) + 2 = 3 * 16 + 2 = 48 + 2 = 50
f(3) = 3 * f(3-1) + 2 = 3 * f(2) + 2 = 3 * 50 + 2 = 152
f(4) = 3 * f(4-1) + 2 = 3 * f(3) + 2 = 3 * 152 + 2 = 458

The correct result would be f(4) = 458.

How many shares did he have to begin with?