14 successful companies that started during US recessions

• Some major companies got their starts during recessions over the past century.
• Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975, the same year as the oil embargo recession.
• Many of today's best-known companies were founded during the Great Recession in 2009, including Uber and Airbnb.
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With the coronavirus pandemic dealing serious blows to the US economy, many economists think a recession is a foregone conclusion.

Yet some of today's biggest, best-known companies, such as Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Trader Joe's, got their starts during past US recessions.

Here are 14 companies that started during recessions before ultimately becoming household names.