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The 15 Greatest Business Comebacks of All Time

By YPB Team

Apple weeks from insolvency, Marvel selling its characters cheap, LEGO going back to bricks, thirteen executives buying Harley-Davidson back from AMF. Fifteen companies that were written off first.

  1. Apple — ranked #11
    Apple
    Weeks from running out of money in 1997, then the most valuable company on earth.
    1000pts
  2. Marvel — ranked #22
    Marvel
    Filed for bankruptcy in 1996, sold its characters cheap, then built the highest-grossing film franchise ever.
    936pts
  3. Ford — ranked #33
    Ford
    The only Detroit carmaker to refuse a 2008 federal bailout, having mortgaged the blue oval to fund itself first.
    584pts
  4. Harley-Davidson — ranked #44
    Harley-Davidson
    Thirteen executives bought the company back from AMF in 1981 and spent the decade rebuilding its reputation.
    584pts
  5. Best Buy — ranked #55
    Best Buy
    Written off as an Amazon showroom, then made the showroom the point.
    414pts
  6. Netflix — ranked #66
    Netflix
    Lost 800,000 subscribers over the Qwikster split in 2011 and became the default television service anyway.
    414pts
  7. Fiat — ranked #77
    Fiat
    Weeks from insolvency in 2004, then bought Chrysler out of bankruptcy five years later.
    414pts
  8. LEGO — ranked #88
    LEGO
    Near collapse in 2004 after a decade of diversification, saved by going back to bricks.
    342pts
  9. Ducati — ranked #99
    Ducati
    Bankrupt in 1996, rebuilt around racing success and sold to Audi for over $1 billion.
    341pts
  10. Old Spice — ranked #1010
    Old Spice
    A brand associated with grandfathers, repositioned in a single 2010 advertising campaign.
    257pts
  11. IBM — ranked #1111
    IBM
    Lost $8 billion in 1993, the largest corporate loss in US history at the time, and pivoted to services.
    257pts
  12. Converse — ranked #1212
    Converse
    Bankrupt in 2001, bought by Nike for $305 million, now a permanent fixture again.
    257pts
  13. Nintendo — ranked #1313
    Nintendo
    Beaten badly by the PlayStation 2 era, then reinvented the market twice with the Wii and the Switch.
    257pts
  14. Delta Air Lines — ranked #1414
    Delta Air Lines
    Emerged from Chapter 11 in 2007 and turned into the most consistently profitable US carrier.
    159pts
  15. Domino's Pizza — ranked #1515
    Domino's Pizza
    Ran an advertising campaign admitting the pizza was bad, then changed the recipe.
    159pts

#brands205#usa294#tech76#all-time311

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