You're standing on a rooftop in Los Santos, heart thumping, holding a heavy sniper rifle. Down below, a corrupt CEO is about to walk out of a building. If you pull the trigger, his company’s stock tanks. But more importantly? Another company's stock is going to skyrocket. This is the stock market assassination GTA 5 players have obsessed over since 2013, and honestly, if you do it wrong, you’re leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table. It’s the difference between finishing the game with a few hundred thousand bucks or having over $2 billion in the bank for each character.
Most people play these missions as they come. They see Lester’s "L" icon on the map and just drive over. Big mistake. Huge.
The Golden Rule: Save the Hits for Later
Here is the thing. Lester Crest gives Franklin a series of hits to take out corporate bigwigs. You have to do the first one—The Hotel Assassination—to move the story forward. After that? Stop. Don't touch them. Walk away. You need to finish the "Big Score" heist first because that gives you the massive capital required to actually make the stock market assassination GTA 5 mechanics work in your favor. If you invest $10,000, you get a nice lunch. If you invest $30,000,000 from the final heist, you become a billionaire.
It's about leverage.
Franklin is the trigger man, but Michael and Trevor are the investors. You have to switch between all three characters and dump every single cent they own into the specific stocks before you even start the mission. Then you wait. You watch the tickers on the LCN or BAWSAQ. It’s tedious, sure, but watching your bank balance tick up to $2,147,483,647—the 32-bit integer limit for the game—is a rush you won't get from any other part of the game.
Why the LCN and BAWSAQ Matter
The game has two markets. The LCN is internal; it reacts to scripted game events. The BAWSAQ used to be tied to the Rockstar Games Social Club and real-world player behavior, but nowadays, it mostly functions as a secondary scripted market for these missions.
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If you're playing offline or on a modern console, don't worry about the internet connection too much. The stock market assassination GTA 5 targets are hard-coded. When you kill the CEO of Vapid, the stock goes down. Period. When you disrupt the pharmaceutical industry, Betta Pharmaceuticals goes up. It’s a rigged game, and you’re the one holding the cards.
Breaking Down the Missions
Let's look at the Hotel Assassination. This is your training ground. You’re targeting a guy from Bilkinton Research to help Betta Pharmaceuticals.
- Before the mission: Put everything into Betta Pharmaceuticals (BET) on the BAWSAQ.
- After the mission: The stock will eventually rise by about 50%.
- The Exit: Sell it all. But wait! Bilkinton (BIL) just bottomed out. If you wait a few days, that stock will rebound. Buy low, sell high. It's basic capitalism, just with more gunpowder.
Then there’s the Multi-Target Assassination. This one is frantic. You have to take out four corrupt jurors across the city in a tight time limit. The target is Redwood Cigarettes because they're being sued. You want to buy Debonaire (DEB) on the LCN.
Actually, wait. Let’s talk about the timing.
Some players get impatient. They sleep in their safehouse to advance time—which is a pro tip, by the way—but they sell too early. Michael sleeps for 6 hours, Franklin for 8, and Trevor for a whopping 12. If you need time to pass quickly, Trevor is your best bet. Keep checking the "My Portfolio" tab. You’re looking for a specific percentage return. For Debonaire, you’re usually looking at a roughly 80% return. Once it hits that peak, sell. Immediately. Then, dump that money into Redwood (RWC) while it’s at its lowest point. It will eventually rebound by about 300%. That’s where the real "fuck you" money comes from.
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The Vice Assassination and Beyond
The Vice Assassination targets a guy at Fruit (FRT). This is a clear parody of Apple. Naturally, you buy Fruit stock. It’s on the BAWSAQ. You’ll see a return of around 50%. After you sell, you can pivot to Facade, but the return there is often negligible compared to the others.
The Bus Assassination is different. This is the one mission where you don't buy before the hit. You do the mission, take out the target, and then buy Vapid (VAP) stock after it crashes. It’s the only one that works in reverse. If you buy before, you’re just throwing money into a black hole. Wait for the crash, buy the dip, and wait for that 100% rebound.
Common Pitfalls and Why You’re Still Broke
The most common reason the stock market assassination GTA 5 strategy fails is the "Save Game" trap. The market is volatile. Sometimes it takes two in-game days to peak; sometimes it takes five. If you save your game in a new slot before every mission, you can't lose. If the stock doesn't hit the expected peak, reload.
Also, people forget Michael and Trevor.
It is a massive pain to switch characters, open the phone, navigate to the boring brown website, and click "plus" on the investment button until all $30 million is spent. It takes forever. Your thumb will hurt. But if you only do it with Franklin, you’re only making one-third of the potential profit. You need all three guys to be filthy rich if you want to buy the Golf Club for $150 million.
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Why Bother in 2026?
You might think, "The game is old, why do I need $2 billion?" Because Los Santos is expensive. Between the high-end properties, the car customizations, and the sheer cost of ammo for a Minigun, that money disappears faster than you'd think. Plus, there is a certain satisfaction in owning every single property on the map. It changes the vibe of the game. You're no longer a street-level thug; you’re the silent owner of the city.
The stock market assassination GTA 5 missions are the only way to reach those heights. The heists are great, but they pay out crumbs compared to a well-timed investment in Gold Coast (GCD) after the Construction Assassination. That last one can net you an 80% return on the LCN. When you’re playing with billions, an 80% return is an astronomical amount of money.
Practical Steps for Your Next Playthrough
If you’re starting a new game or you’re sitting on the final save, here is the exact workflow to ensure you don't mess it up.
- Finish the Main Story: Get the payout from the Union Depository heist. This is your seed money.
- Manual Save: Always create a fresh save point before talking to Lester.
- Invest with All Three: Don't be lazy. Navigate the clunky UI for Michael, Trevor, and Franklin.
- Execute the Hit: Follow Lester's instructions. Use a suppressed sniper rifle to keep things clean.
- Advance Time: Go to a safehouse and sleep. You don't actually have to save the game to advance time; just entering the menu and backing out works.
- Monitor the Peak: Check the stock every few "hours" in-game. Markets don't update on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), so keep an eye on the in-game day.
- The Great Sell-Off: Once you hit the peak percentage—usually between 50% and 300% depending on the mission—sell everything.
- The Rebound Buy: For missions like the Cigarette or Bus hits, buy the company you just destroyed. Wait for it to recover.
Keep in mind that the BAWSAQ requires an internet connection to the Rockstar servers. If the servers are acting up or you're playing an unpatched version, the numbers might behave a bit weirdly. Stick to the LCN missions first if you're worried about connectivity.
The stock market isn't just a side hustle in this game. It's the intended way to play the "endgame." Rockstar built these missions specifically so players could afford the most expensive content they created. If you ignore the market, you're missing out on half the experience of being a successful criminal mastermind. Go get your billions. Just make sure you wait for the final heist before you start pulling the trigger for Lester.