Von Dutch came back on the back of Y2K nostalgia and a licensing deal
Buffalo Boots licensed the fading Von Dutch name and rode Gen Z's Y2K revival back to shelves.
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2,000 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDBoehringer Ingelheim returned the top job to its founding family after 25 years
In July 2016 Hubertus von Baumbach, great-grandson of founder Albert Boehringer, became chairman of the board — the first family leader since 1991.
Read the caseJay Hormel took over in 1929 and bet the meatpacker on canned food and SPAM
Jay Hormel took over as the Depression hit and bet on canned meats, launching SPAM in 1937; by 1946 Hormel was America's largest independent meat processor.
Read the caseDroga Raia and Drogasil merged — and built Brazil's largest pharmacy chain
Brazil's two largest drugstore chains — Droga Raia (1905) and Drogasil (1935) — merged via share-swap (2012) into Raia Drogasil: 3,000+ stores, R$36.3B revenue.
Read the caseMeMind and Yucatán used tailored AI screening to reach 10,000 at-risk people
Facing a suicide rate twice Mexico's average, Yucatán tailored MeMind's AI tool to local risks and linked 10,000 at-risk users to treatment information.
Read the caseChina Railway Materials' bond crisis ended in China's first AMC-led debt restructuring
After 2016 bond suspensions, the rail-logistics SOE agreed a 2017 plan: banks kept principal, interest halved, Great Wall AMC bought ¥10bn bonds.
Read the caseWhen COVID closed its stores, Nike's digital-first push made it grow while retail shrank
After sales fell 38% in May 2020, Nike leaned on digital and direct channels; revenue grew 9% and digital sales rose 84% that quarter, beating estimates.
Read the caseA 22-year-old granddaughter rebuilt R$1.5m of family debt into a R$3.5m business
Larissa Isensee took over her grandfather's failing textile-machinery firm at 22, renegotiated the debt, and reached R$3.5m revenue by 2024.
Read the caseMahindra's Classic Legends revived BSA with the Gold Star after 40 years
Classic Legends, part of Mahindra, brought the dead BSA motorcycle marque back with a 652cc Gold Star engineered in the UK.
Read the caseSuzuki's son took over in 2015, quit China in 2018, and India made it a record earner
Osamu handed Suzuki to son Toshihiro in 2015; after the 2016 testing scandal he exited China, bet on India, and Maruti Suzuki's sales and profit hit records.
Read the caseAlibaba’s Qwen turned chip restrictions into a multilingual AI advantage
With chip restrictions and a U.S.-dominated AI race, Alibaba made multilingual performance Qwen’s edge; it neared frontier benchmarks and won Chinese clients.
Read the caseDaewoo's debt-fueled empire collapsed in 1999 when creditors put 12 units into workout
Korea's second-largest chaebol kept borrowing through the Asian crisis; in 1999 twelve core units owed 88.99 trillion won and were put into creditor-led workout
Read the caseBurberry pulled the check back upmarket and nearly doubled revenue under Angela Ahrendts
Ahrendts cut licensing, went retail-led and re-luxurized Burberry; FY2007 revenue rose 15% and profits kept climbing.
Read the caseTexas Roadhouse put employees first, pivoted to to-go, and never laid off
Founder Kent Taylor gave his salary, threw the switch to curbside, and the chain got to positive comps without layoffs.
Read the caseHonda reissued the Super Cub for its 100-millionth unit
Honda celebrated 100 million Super Cubs by reissuing the 50 and 110cc models, made in Japan from ¥232,200.
Read the caseFirstEnergy's failed arm emerged as Energy Harbor and sold to Vistra
FirstEnergy Solutions left Chapter 11 in 2020 as nuclear-focused Energy Harbor; Vistra bought it for $3B cash plus a 15% stake in Vistra Vision.
Read the caseGoogle's WAXAL put African partners in charge of 11,000 hours of AI data
Google chose local ownership and open licensing for WAXAL, turning a three-year data bottleneck into an African AI foundation.
Read the caseBank Rakyat Indonesia's microbanking network made its 2003 IPO a 16x hit
After the 1997 crisis forced recapitalisation, BRI floated 30% in a 2003 IPO that was 16 times subscribed, and went on to become Indonesia's largest bank.
Read the casePlanet Fitness rode its $10 franchise model through COVID while rivals went bankrupt
Planet Fitness reopened steady, expanded its footprint, and avoided bankruptcy while 24 Hour Fitness and Gold's Gym collapsed.
Read the caseSixth-generation leader Kevin Hancock kept Hancock Lumber going through a crash
Forced into leadership by his father's illness, Kevin Hancock guided a 175-year-old lumber firm through the housing crash and deeper crises.
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