Marvel Comics filed for bankruptcy in 1996 amid $700M debt and a comic bust. Avi Arad and Isaac Perlmutter restructured, licensed characters cheaply, then bet $525M on self-produced films. Iron Man launched the MCU in 2008; Disney bought for $4B. 37 films grossed $31B, birthing Hollywood’s top franchise.
Starbucks soared from a Seattle bean roaster to 40,000 global stores under Howard Schultz, pioneering the $100B third-place coffee culture. Amid 2024 sales slumps from menu bloat and competition, CEO Brian Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” reset streamlines offerings, boosts staffing, and restores cozy vibes for reignited growth.
India’s women’s cricket team clinched their maiden World Cup in 2025, smashing viewership records with India-Pakistan drawing 28.4M fans. Women’s Premier League auctions surged as stars like Harmanpreet Kaur boosted endorsements and BCCI doubled fees. From tokenism to mainstream, it reshapes sports economics with viral moments and infrastructure boom.
AI’s hottest money flow sits inside a trillion dollar loop. Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI and a handful of giants are investing in each other, funding GPUs and data centers with recycled capital that inflates valuations. If real-world AI revenue lags this spending, today’s “virtuous cycle” could become tomorrow’s bubble.
Richard Mille defied watchmaking conventions to forge a luxury empire. Launching in 2001 with radical tonneau-shaped designs, titanium builds, and racing-inspired tech, he ignored tradition and high costs. Skeptics dismissed his avant-garde vision, yet limited production and celebrity endorsements propelled the brand to $1.5 billion valuation, redefining modern horology.
Whitney Wolfe Herd endured harassment at Tinder, sued, then founded Bumble in 2014, flipping the script by letting women message first for safer dating. The app exploded, going public in 2021 with her as the youngest female founder billionaire at 31. Yet post-IPO highs crashed into stock slumps and growth woes, testing her love revolution.