You've probably heard the legends. Players walking around Los Santos with $2.1 billion in their bank accounts, buying every single property on the map without even blinking. It sounds like a mod or a cheat code, but it's really just math. Cold, hard, manipulative math. If you've been burning through Franklin’s assassination jobs as soon as they pop up on the map, you're doing it wrong. Honestly, you're throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars.
Basically, the GTA 5 stock market Lester missions are the only way to "legitimately" break the game's economy. But there is a very specific catch. You have to be patient. Most people finish the Hotel Assassination and then immediately jump into the next one. Stop. Don't touch them. You need to finish the entire main story first.
The big secret to the GTA 5 stock market Lester missions
Why wait? It’s simple. At the end of the game, after the "Big Score" heist, each of your three characters—Michael, Franklin, and Trevor—will have roughly $25 to $40 million sitting in their pockets. That is your seed money. If you invest $100,000 and get an 80% return, you made eighty grand. Big deal. But if you invest $30 million? You're looking at a $24 million profit in a single afternoon.
The game forces you to do the first mission, the Hotel Assassination, to progress the story. That's fine. But for the love of everything, leave the other four until the credits roll.
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1. The Hotel Assassination (The Mandatory One)
Since you have to do this one early, you won't have the "Big Score" money yet. Still, invest every cent you have.
- Before the mission: Put everything into Betta Pharmaceuticals (BET) on the BAWSAQ exchange.
- The Payoff: After the hit, wait about 24 in-game hours. Sell when it hits around a 50% return.
- The Rebound: This is what most people miss. After you sell BET, the rival company Bilkinton (LCN) will have tanked. Buy it while it’s at rock bottom. Wait a few in-game days—usually about a week—and sell it when it bounces back for another 80% gain.
2. The Multi-Target Assassination (The Real Money Maker)
This is where things get crazy. You’re hitting the cigarette industry here.
- Before the mission: Buy Debonaire (LCN) with all three characters.
- The Payoff: Once the mission is over, Debonaire usually peaks at an 80% return.
- The Double Dip: Sell Debonaire and immediately sink every dollar into Redwood (LCN). Redwood just got crushed, but it’s a blue-chip company in the GTA world. It will recover. You might have to wait 48 to 72 in-game hours (just keep sleeping to pass time), but it often rebounds by 300%. This single move can triple your net worth.
Mastering the "Sleep" method for timing
The stock market in Los Santos doesn't move based on real-time; it moves based on in-game "ticks." If you want the market to move faster, go to a safehouse and lay down to save the game. You don't actually have to save. Just entering the save screen and backing out advances the clock.
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Trevor is the king of this. He sleeps for 12 hours at a time, whereas Michael only sleeps for 6. If a stock is taking forever to rebound, use Trevor to fast-forward the days. Just make sure you check your phone's browser frequently. If you sleep through the peak, you'll see the numbers start to slide back down, and you'll lose out on millions.
3. The Vice Assassination
This one targets the tech giants. It's Fruit vs. Facade.
- Before the mission: Invest in Fruit (BAWSAQ).
- The Payoff: It usually hits a 50% return pretty quickly.
- The Rebound: After selling Fruit, buy Facade (BAWSAQ). It'll be cheap. Wait for it to climb back up—usually about a 30% gain. It’s not as massive as the Redwood jump, but at this stage, 30% of your total wealth is a staggering amount of money.
4. The Bus Assassination
This one is weird. Unlike the others, you do not invest before the mission.
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- After the mission: Once the target is down, the Vapid (BAWSAQ) stock will fall off a cliff.
- The Move: Buy Vapid at its lowest point.
- The Payoff: Wait for the rebound. This one is almost always a guaranteed 100% return. You're essentially doubling your money for driving a bus and being a bit of a nuisance.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
One of the biggest frustrations players face is the BAWSAQ exchange being "down for maintenance." This usually happens if you aren't connected to the internet or Rockstar's Social Club. Unlike the LCN, which is handled entirely on your console/PC, BAWSAQ is "live." If it’s not working, you can’t do the Fruit or Vapid plays properly.
Also, watch the days of the week. The market doesn't move on weekends. If you finish a mission on a Friday night and spend the whole weekend sleeping, the stock won't budge. You'll think the guide is broken. It's not; the traders are just at the beach. Wait until Monday morning for the numbers to start jumping again.
5. The Construction Assassination
The final big hit. By now, if you've done everything right, you're likely sitting on hundreds of millions, if not a billion per character.
- Before the mission: Invest in Gold Coast (LCN).
- The Payoff: This one is straightforward. Sell it when it peaks at roughly 80%.
Actionable Next Steps
To make this work, you need a clean save. If you've already finished the Lester missions and didn't make much money, your only real option is to start a new game or load a very old save.
- Finish the Story: Get through "The Big Score" first.
- Save Manually: Before every mission, create a new save slot. If the stock market fluctuates in a weird way (it happens sometimes), you need that backup.
- Invest with ALL THREE: People often forget to switch characters. Michael and Trevor need to be just as invested as Franklin.
- Watch the Portfolio: Don't look at the "Current Price" on the main page; look at the "Return %" in your Portfolio tab. That is the only number that matters.
Once you hit that $2.1 billion cap, the game stops counting. You've officially won the economy. You can go buy the Golf Club for $150 million and still have more money than you could ever spend in ten lifetimes of crime.