During recessions, people and businesses making money often focus on essential needs (healthcare, groceries, utilities), discount retail, repair services, and "flight to quality" investments like government bonds, while savvy investors like Warren Buffett or John Paulson profit by buying undervalued assets or betting against overvalued ones, leveraging panic selling into buying opportunities.
Industries that can thrive during recessions
Some of the most recession-proof industries include companies that sell things people need, such as: Utilities. Insurance. Groceries.
Michael Burry isn't afraid to go against the herd. The hedge fund manager famously bet against the U.S. housing market ahead of the 2008 crash — earning $100 million for himself and $725 million for his investors — a move later profiled in the hit movie “The Big Short” (1).
Several individuals who bet against or “shorted” the market became rich or richer. Percy Rockefeller, William Danforth, and Joseph P. Kennedy made millions shorting stocks at this time. They saw opportunity in what most saw as misfortune.
Michael Burry made $100 million by predicting the housing market crash in The Big Short. Mark Baum, based on Steve Eisman, earned $1 billion from the market crash depicted in the film. Jared Vennett, based on Greg Lippmann, made $47 million from swap sales as shown in the movie.
Michael Burry just sold over $70 million in stock, liquidating his entire portfolio except for one stock, doubling down on a company that other investors are fleeing in droves.
The biggest box office bomb is often debated, but Disney's John Carter (2012) is frequently cited, losing an estimated $200 million or more on a huge budget, with other major flops including Disney's Strange World (2022) and Disney's Mars Needs Moms (2011). These films suffered massive financial losses due to high production/marketing costs and poor audience turnout, with John Carter losing potentially $225M and Strange World around $197M.
No single entity owns 90% of the stock market, but the wealthiest Americans own the vast majority of it, with the top 10% holding around 90-93% of U.S. stocks, while the bottom 50% own only about 1%, according to Federal Reserve data analysis from early 2024. This concentration of ownership is primarily held by high-net-worth individuals and their investment vehicles, not one owner.
Even during our country's worst economic downturn, some folks still knew how to make a buck -- many bucks, in fact.
By the summer of 1932, the Great Depression had begun to show signs of improvement, but many people in the United States still blamed President Hoover.
Stimulus. On February 17, 2009, Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening worldwide recession.
In the second quarter of 2008, Buffett bought shares of NRG Energy. The next quarter, he opened stakes in ConocoPhillips and Eaton. In the fourth quarter of 2008, Buffett bought shares of Constellation Energy and Nalco Holding, which is now part of Ecolab.
As of early 2025, Michael Burry's personal net worth is estimated at around $300 million. This figure reflects his cumulative earnings from past trades, fund management fees, and personal investments, including the extraordinary profits he made during the 2008 housing market collapse.
Here are the most effective ways to earn money and turn that 10K into 100K before you know it.
A study from Fidelity Investments found that 88% of millionaires built their wealth through self-made efforts, with a substantial portion of that wealth accumulated during times of economic downturn.
Investing $1,000 a month for 30 years means you contribute $360,000 total, but with compounding returns, the final amount varies significantly by average annual return, potentially growing to over $1 million at 8% and reaching around $2 million or more at a 10% average return, illustrating the power of long-term, consistent investing.
A historical comparison has shown that billionaire Elon Musk holds a share of the US GDP that surpasses that of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. According to calculations by Harvard Business School, Rockefeller's wealth in 1937 was about $1.4 billion, which at the time represented 1.5% of the US GDP.
Not everyone, however, lost money during the worst economic downturn in American history. Business titans such as William Boeing and Walter Chrysler actually grew their fortunes during the Great Depression.
When Commodore Vanderbilt died in 1877, his fortune was 100 million, His son doubled that in a few years before his death in 1885 which is over $6 billion today. His children spent it nearly as quickly. And yes, the real Vanderbilts were richer than the Astors.
A $1,000 investment in Coca-Cola 30 years ago would have grown to around $9,030 today. KO data by YCharts. This is primarily not because of the stock, which would be worth around $4,270. The remaining $4,760 comes from cumulative dividend payments over the last 30 years.
Jack Kellogg began trading stocks right out of high school in 2017. Five years into his craft, he has already been exposed to various types of market conditions, including the stock market crash of 2020, the raging bull rallies of 2021, and the bear market of 2022.
NVIDIA is the largest company in the world, with a market cap of $4.56 trillion. NVIDIA is followed by Apple ($3.95 trillion), Alphabet ($3.83 trillion), Microsoft ($3.53 trillion), and Amazon ($2.49 trillion).
The Terror of Tiny Town (1938)
Melvin Defleur referred to it as "Perhaps the worst film of all time", and critic Gabriel Ricard listed it as the worst film ever made; stating, "not only is it pretty terrible, but Tiny Town is also pretty endearing."
Mithun Chakraborty holds the dubious honour of giving the highest number of flop films among lead actors in Bollywood. The actor has 180 flop films in a career that has spanned over 40 years.
There's no single "number one movie" as it depends on the criteria, but James Cameron's Avatar (2009) is the highest-grossing film worldwide unadjusted for inflation. When adjusting for inflation, Gone with the Wind (1939) is often cited as number one, while The Shawshank Redemption (1994) is consistently rated the top movie by users on IMDb based on critical acclaim and audience votes.