# The 15 Greatest Business Comebacks of All Time

> 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.

*By YPB Team · Published September 9, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-15-greatest-business-comebacks-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

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

Tags: brands, usa, tech, all-time