Thermo Fisher poured $1.5B into capacity during COVID and grew revenue 26%
Thermo Fisher scaled PCR testing and bioproduction through 2020; revenue rose 26% to $32.2B with $3.2B of COVID response sales in Q4.
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2,000 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDMattress Firm trimmed from 3,500 to 2,600 stores in a 46-day Chapter 11, then sold for $4B
The largest US mattress retailer used a prepackaged bankruptcy to close a third of its stores in 46 days and five years later drew a $4 billion takeover.
Read the caseSergio Tacchini's licensing and collaborations brought it back
Sergio Tacchini, bankrupt in 2007, came back via collaborations and licensing deals that relaunched the tennis heritage brand.
Read the caseMurdochs settled succession: Lachlan took the empire, siblings got $1.1B each
Rupert Murdoch handed Fox and News Corp to son Lachlan in 2023, then paid out three other children to end a trust battle and lock in control.
Read the caseNissan revived its killed-off GT-R badge as a Porsche-baiting halo car
A badge buried by the 1973 oil crisis came back as Nissan's turnaround talisman — a $70,475 car built to beat Porsches costing three times as much.
Read the caseCtrip kept its staff through SARS and listed on Nasdaq six months later
SARS froze Chinese travel in 2003; Ctrip kept all staff, trained through the trough, and listed on Nasdaq six months later — up 88.56% on day one.
Read the caseNear bankruptcy in 1997, Apple cut to one product and the iMac made it a giant
Apple was near-bankrupt in 1997; Jobs returned, killed the Newton, took Microsoft's $150M, and the iMac set up the iPod and a trillion dollars.
Read the caseChrysler took government-backed loans, then paid them back seven years early
Chrysler was losing more money than any US company ever had. Its CEO took a $1 salary, won federal loan guarantees, and repaid them years ahead of schedule.
Read the caseHunter rebuilt its 150-year wellington boot brand around fashion.
Hunter, bankrupt in 2005, was rebuilt into a fashion brand after a paparazzi shot of Kate Moss at Glastonbury flagged its potential.
Read the caseRummo's 6th generation rebuilt a flooded pasta plant and paid back EUR 95m
An October 2015 flood buried Rummo's plant; the family outsourced output, won creditor protection, and by 2023 was a top-5 Italian brand.
Read the caseAirfix: the collapsed kit maker rescued by Hornby for £2.6m — still on shelves 20 years on
When Humbrol's collapse stranded Britain's iconic model-kit brand, rival Hornby bought it out of administration, moved sales to Kent and outsourced production.
Read the caseAfter a ¥2.2B fraud and delisting, Luckin rebuilt into China's biggest coffee chain
China's fastest-listed coffee chain admitted a ¥2.2B fraud, delisted, then reborn on low prices and app-first franchising — ¥24.9B revenue, 16,000+ stores.
Read the caseLöscher cleaned up Siemens after the bribery scandal and drove it to a record €4.1B profit
Outsider Peter Löscher overhauled Siemens' governance and portfolio after the corruption scandal, and by fiscal 2010 net income hit a record €4.1 billion.
Read the caseAdani Group: after Hindenburg wiped out $100B, GQG's $1.9B bet and debt cuts rebuilt it
Hit by a short-seller report that erased $100B, Adani sold promoter stakes to US investor GQG for $1.87B, prepaid debt, and recovered its value.
Read the casePentland rebuilt Ellesse's identity and licensed it back into the US market
Pentland signed an exclusive US licensing deal with The Iconic Brand Corporation to relaunch Ellesse online and in stores for 2026.
Read the caseTakeda staged a French outsider into the CEO seat, then sequenced his successor
Takeda hired GSK veteran Weber as COO in 2014, made him its first non-Japanese CEO a year later — and announced his successor 17 months ahead.
Read the caseActivision revived the dead Sierra label to sell King's Quest nostalgia
Sierra died in a 1996 conglomerate buyout; Activision resurrected the label in 2014 as a mini-publisher and shipped a new King's Quest in 2015.
Read the caseLala closed weak units, went private, and lifted 2023 net profit 90.7%
Lala's new CEO closed unprofitable operations and cut costs; the dairy giant delisted in 2022 and normalized 2023 net income rose 90.7% to MXN2,791m.
Read the caseShopify sold its logistics arm to Flexport and swung from a $3.5B loss to a $2B profit
After 2022's $3.46B loss, Shopify sold Shopify Logistics to Flexport, cut costs, and by 2024 earned $2.02B with $1.6B of free cash flow.
Read the caseHDFC Bank absorbed its own parent in India's biggest-ever $40 billion merger
India's biggest private bank bought its parent, the country's top mortgage lender, in a $40 billion all-stock deal speculated about for two decades.
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