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10 companies that bounced back after bankruptcy

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A corporate logo for a Hooters restaurant hangs on the wall of a building on April 1, 2025, in Lakeland, Florida.
Hooters is once again owned by its founders after going through bankruptcy.

Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

  • Chapter 11 protections allow companies to reorganize debts in order to become profitable again.
  • Companies like Hooters, Marvel, Converse, and GM have used the process to come back stronger.
  • Here are 10 household name brands that have bounced back after filing for bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy often marks the end of a company — but not always.

While corporate bankruptcies have been on the rise in recent years, some brands have used the process to rebuild.

Chapter 11 protections mean that declaring bankruptcy doesn't necessarily signal the end of a company.

With the right restructuring strategy, brands can get back on their feet and emerge from bankruptcy stronger than ever.

Here are 10 household names that used the bankruptcy process to restructure their debt and get back into the black.

Marvel filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and dominated the silver screen a decade later.
marvel studios kevin feige

Disney

Marvel Entertainment filed for bankruptcy in 1996, citing declining comic book sales. After merging with Toy Biz and selling film rights to characters like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, the company managed to regain its footing.

Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion in 2009, and its Avengers franchise has become a cash cow for the House of Mouse.

Converse filed for bankruptcy before being bought out by Nike.
Converse shoes

Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

Faced with rising debts and a falling stock price, Converse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001. Sold at auction, Converse's new owners tapped a former North Face executive to revive the brand, eventually selling to Nike for $1.9 billion in 2003.

Delta Air Lines filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and spent a year and a half restructuring.
Delta Airlines

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Delta exited bankruptcy in 2007 after cutting 6,000 jobs and reducing labor costs by $1 billion. By maximizing use of its Atlanta hub, expanding its international reach, and cutting costs, the company bounced back.

Six Flags filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and eliminated its debt a year later.
six flags great america roller coaster

Pit Stock/Shutterstock

Six Flags eliminated $1 billion in debt in 2010 by offering bondholders ownership of the company. The amusement park chain went on to post nine straight years of record revenue, and in 2024, the company merged with former rival Cedar Fair.

It seemed like Hostess was closing for good in 2012, but the beloved brand is back.
hostess comeback
CEO of Hostess Brands Dean Metropoulos speaks at a ceremony marking the return of "Twinkies" at a plant in Schiller Park, Illinois, July 15, 2013. The Twinkie returned to production after the Hostess's snack cake brand was purchased earlier this year by buyout firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co.

Jim Young/Reuters

Hostess filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012, and it seemed like the end of Twinkies, Ho Hos, and Ring Dings.

The company was bought by a private equity firm in 2015, which invested $375 million in the company, took it public, and reduced costs, bringing the classic Americana pieces back to store shelves.

The comeback captured the attention of J.M. Smucker Co., which completed an acquisition in 2023.

American Airlines was profitable three years after declaring bankruptcy.
American Airlines

AP Images

American Airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and spent the next several years reducing its workforce and restructuring its business. After merging with US Airways, the company returned to profitability in 2014 and has largely managed to stay in the black, aside from during the COVID-19 pandemic.

General Motors filed for bankruptcy at the height of the Great Financial Crisis.
FILE PHOTO: Engines assembled as they make their way through the assembly line at the General Motors (GM) manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, U.S. August 22, 2019. REUTERS/Harrison McClary/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Engines assembled as they make their way through the assembly line at the General Motors (GM) manufacturing plant in Spring Hill

Reuters

When GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009, the US government spent $50 billion to bail it out and save autoworkers' jobs. The Treasury Department said in 2013 that the moves ultimately lost about $11.2 billion, but that the alternative would have been much worse.

The lifeline for GM helped the company transform into one of the world's best-run car companies and has contributed to the revitalization of Detroit.

Betsey Johnson filed for bankruptcy and closed all 63 stores in 2012 before relaunching her fashion brand.
betsey johnson
Designer Betsey Johnson, left, is joined on the runway by her daughter Lulu Johnson after the Betsey Johnson Spring 2013 collection show during Fashion Week, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, in New York.

Jason DeCrow

Betsey Johnson had planned a massive expansion during the 2008 financial crisis. Instead, the company ended up $4 million in debt.

After filing for bankruptcy, the brand was acquired by Steve Madden in 2010, and Johnson has since revamped her fashion line to focus on lower-priced items to be sold in department stores.

Hooters filed for bankruptcy in 2025 and was sold back to a group that included the chain's founders.
A Hooters restaurant is seen on February 24 in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
Hooters filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Chicken-wing and skimpy-uniform restaurant chain Hooters filed for Chapter 11 protection in March and emerged several months later under a deal with the company's original founders to "re-Hooterize" the brand.

At Home's CEO said exiting bankruptcy represents 'an exciting new beginning.'
People walk toward an At Home store.
At Home.

LM Otero/AP

Texas-based housewares chain At Home filed for Chapter 11 protection in June and emerged in October with $2 billion less in debt, $500 million in exit financing, and a new ownership agreement among a group of its lenders.

CEO Brad Weston said the chapter now represents "an exciting new beginning."

Read the original article on Business Insider

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