Ford used an astrologer from California to determine which date they would launch the new Ford Taurus. They paid the astrologer $500.
business
Ray’s Pizza was started…
Ray’s Pizza was started by a Mob as a front for Drugs and Money laundering, But ended up making almost the same money as their drug buisness.
Mobile phone giant Gionee went bankrupt…
Mobile phone giant Gionee went bankrupt in 2018 when it’s chairman lost $144 million gambling at a casino forcing the liquidation of the company.
Nikolai Pavlenko, a Soviet forger…
Nikolai Pavlenko, a Soviet forger, ran a real but unauthorized construction organization in USSR. Since it was more efficient than the state ones, he was charged with undermining USSR by running an efficient organization.
Victoria Woodhull, the traveling psychic…
Victoria Woodhull, the traveling psychic, gave American tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt advice on investing in the gold market. Following her advice, Vanderbilt made a profit of $1.3 million, withdrawing just before the gold market crash of Black Friday on September 24, 1869.
Samsung, the largest business…
Samsung, the largest business conglomerate in South Korea, began as a trucking company, and its founder Lee Byung-chul was a college dropout.
In 1984 water beds were a $2…
In 1984 water beds were a $2 billion business with 3.4 million sold in the United States alone. At the time, 75 percent of all stores that sold water beds also offered a selection of water bed cribs.
A woman in France accidentally…
A woman in France accidentally received a phone bill of €11,721,000,000,000,000 (million billion). This was 5000x the GDP of France at the time. It took several days of wrangling before the phone company finally admitted it was a mistake and she owed just €117.21. They let her off.
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad started….
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad started his journey to becoming the 8th richest man in the world at age 5, by selling matches to his neighbors. He bought matches in bulk, cheaply & re-sold them at a very low price while still making a good profit, the same basic model used later at IKEA.
As of 2018 most of the early…
As of 2018 most of the early cryonics companies that froze dead bodies for future revival had gone out of business, and their stored corpses have been thawed and disposed of.