Business History Lists

Each list brings together stories from the MonyPulse archive around one question: which famous companies nearly went bankrupt, what they sold for, which chances were missed. Every entry gives the key figure, a short account and a link to the full story, where the sources are listed.

• Famous Companies That Almost Went Bankrupt

  Apple, Lego, Marvel, FedEx and Nike all came close to collapse. How close they got, and what saved them.

  11 stories

• The Biggest Missed Opportunities in Business History

  Blockbuster passed on Netflix, Yahoo on Google, and Apple’s third founder sold his 10% for $800.

  11 stories

• Famous Founders Who Failed Before They Succeeded

  Henry Ford, Milton Hershey, Colonel Sanders and James Dyson: the failures before the famous success.

  8 stories

• What Famous Companies Sold For

  Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Pixar, Marvel, Slack and more: who bought them, when and for how much.

  28 stories

• Famous Companies Started With Little Money

  Nike began with $1,000, Spanx with $5,000, and Coca-Cola’s rights cost $2,300. The real starting numbers.

  12 stories

Looking for one company? Browse the full archive, filed by section.