You’ve just finished the Jewel Store Job. Your character’s bank account looks okay, but it isn’t "buy a golf course" okay. Most players make the same mistake here. They see a blue "L" on the map, drive over to a payphone, and trigger one of the GTA 5 assassination missions because they want to progress the story.
Stop. Seriously.
If you do those missions now, you are essentially deleting hundreds of millions of dollars from your future save file. It's a tragedy, honestly. Lester Crest isn't just giving Franklin some side work to help out a buddy; he’s handing you the keys to the entire Los Santos stock market. If you play your cards right, Michael, Franklin, and Trevor will end the game with over $2 billion each. If you mess it up? You’ll be lucky to afford a decent hangar.
Why Everyone Messes Up the Hotel Assassination
The very first hit Lester gives you is the Hotel Assassination. You have to do this one to move the main story forward. There’s no way around it. Most people just kill the guy and move on.
Wait.
Before you even think about picking up that sniper rifle, you need to open your phone. Go to the LCN exchange. Dump every single cent—from all three characters—into Betta Pharmaceuticals (BET). This is the play. Once the target is down, the stock price doesn't just go up; it sky-rockets. You’re looking at roughly a 50% return on investment.
But here’s the trick people forget: you have to sell at the peak and then immediately pivot. After selling Betta Pharma, the rival company, Bilkington, will be at an all-time low. You buy that dip. It'll take a few in-game days to recover, but when it does, that's another 80% to 100% profit. You’ve doubled your money before the game is even halfway over.
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The Big Wait: Saving the Rest for Later
Now, here is where patience becomes a literal virtue. Lester has four more hits: The Multi-Target Assassination, The Vice Assassination, The Bus Assassination, and The Construction Assassination.
Do not touch them. You need to finish "The Big Score" first. That’s the final heist in the main storyline. Depending on how you pull it off and which crew members you pick, you’ll end up with around $20 million to $40 million per character. This is your "seed money." Using the GTA 5 assassination missions to multiply $40 million is how you reach that $2.1 billion cap. If you use them to multiply the $50,000 you have mid-game, you’re just wasting the opportunity.
It’s kinda funny how the game lures you in with these missions. They feel like urgent side quests, but they are actually the endgame’s true economy.
Breaking Down the Multi-Target Hit
Once the credits have rolled and you have your heist payout, go see Lester for the Multi-Target Assassination. This one is chaotic because you're on a timer to take out four jurors.
Before you start, put all your cash into Debonaire (DEB) on the LCN.
- The Return: You’ll usually see about a 60% to 80% gain.
- The Rebound: After selling Debonaire, immediately buy Redwood (RWC). It will be in the gutter. Wait a few days (sleeping in-game speeds this up), and Redwood will bounce back for a massive 300% return.
Think about that. If Franklin has $30 million and you get a 300% return, he now has $120 million. And we’re only on the second mission.
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The Vice Assassination and the iFruit Trap
The third one is the Vice Assassination. You’re taking out a guy who jumped the gun on a new tech product. It’s a clear riff on Apple.
Invest everything into Fruit (FRT) on the BAWSAQ. Note that BAWSAQ requires an internet connection (Rockstar Social Club), while LCN is offline. If your console or PC isn't connected, this part gets tricky. Fruit usually hits a 50% peak. Once you sell, look at Facade. It’s the Microsoft equivalent. It’ll drop, then climb back up by about 30%. It’s not the biggest win of the bunch, but at this stage, 30% of your hundreds of millions is still enough to buy several Ferraris.
The Bus Assassination is Weird
The Bus Assassination is the outlier. In every other mission, you buy the stock of the company that benefits from the death. In this one, you don't buy anything beforehand.
You go through the mission, kill the target, and then wait. The company Vapid (VAP) will take a massive hit on the BAWSAQ. Buy the dip. It's a pure recovery play. You buy Vapid when it’s bottomed out and wait for it to return to its previous value. This usually nets you a clean 100% profit. It’s basically a "buy one, get one free" for your entire bank account.
The Final Payday: Construction Assassination
The last one is the Construction Assassination. It’s pretty straightforward—lots of guards, a helicopter, a bit of a shootout.
Before the chaos, put everything into Gold Coast (GCD) on the LCN. This is your final victory lap. You’re looking at an 80% return. By the time you sell this off, if you’ve followed the sequence correctly starting from the post-heist millions, your characters will be so wealthy the game’s UI might actually struggle to display the numbers.
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Why the BAWSAQ and LCN Matter
A lot of people ask if they can just "grind" the stock market without Lester. Honestly? You can, but it's a nightmare. The LCN is mostly random or tied to your specific in-game actions (like blowing up FlyUS planes to make AirEmu stock go up—which barely works, by the way).
The GTA 5 assassination missions are the only guaranteed, scripted ways to influence the market. They are the "cheat code" that isn't actually a cheat code.
Some players argue that money doesn't matter in GTA 5 once you have a few million. They're wrong. If you want to own the Los Santos Golf Club ($150 million) or all the properties that generate weekly income, you need this specific strategy. Plus, there is a certain level of satisfaction in seeing Michael De Santa—a man who complains about money for 30 hours—become a multi-billionaire.
Nuance and Common Pitfalls
It isn't always perfect. The stock market in GTA 5 can be finicky. Sometimes the "peak" takes three in-game days, and sometimes it takes five.
If you check the stock and it’s only gone up 10%, don't panic. Go to your safehouse, save the game to advance time by 6 or 8 hours, and check again.
- Pro Tip: Use Trevor to save. He sleeps for 12 hours at a time, making the market move faster than Michael (6 hours) or Franklin (8 hours).
Also, make sure you aren't in a mission when you try to sell. The phone's internet browser can be disabled during certain scripted moments, which can cost you millions if the stock starts to dip.
Maximize Your Gains Right Now
- Check your progress: If you haven't done the "Big Score" yet, stop doing Lester's missions immediately.
- Liquidate everything: Before starting a hit, ensure all three characters have zero dollars in other stocks. You want every cent working for you.
- The Save Trick: Always create a "hard save" (a new save slot) before starting an assassination. If the stock market glitches or you miss the peak, you can just reload and try again.
- Watch the percentages: Don't just look at the stock price; look at the "Return Percentage" in your portfolio. Sell when it hits the expected targets mentioned above.
Getting rich in Los Santos isn't about how many pedestrians you rob. It's about corporate espionage. Use these missions wisely, and you'll never have to worry about the cost of a Rocket Launcher ever again. After you've cleared out the market, go ahead and buy that $10,000,000 Luxor Deluxe gold plane. You've earned it.
Start by finishing the main story first, then go back to that green "L" on the map. That is the single most important step for anyone trying to max out their save file.