Lester Assassinations
Optional Franklin contracts from Lester Crest that manipulate in-game stock prices on the BAWSAQ exchange.
Overview
Lester Assassinations are optional hit contracts Lester gives Franklin after The Hotel Assassination main story mission. Each assassination targets a corporate executive tied to a publicly traded company on the BAWSAQ stock market. Completing a contract depresses the target company’s share price and often raises a competitor stock, which players exploit by investing before the mission and selling afterward in story mode. Mission progress saves at most checkpoints in supported titles, and the pause-map legend continues to display active objectives while players manage wanted levels or switch protagonists when the strand allows.
Walkthrough
1. Complete The Hotel Assassination in the main story to unlock Lester’s investment missions. 2. Before each assassination, invest in the stocks Lester mentions in his phone call or briefing. 3. Accept the mission as Franklin and eliminate the marked target using the prescribed method. 4. Wait for the in-game market update after the mission completes. 5. Sell held shares for profit, then proceed to the next assassination when Lester calls. 6. Review the mission summary on the results screen for payout totals, respect changes, or unlock notifications before returning to freeroam.
Stock Strategy Notes
Missions fail on protagonist death or failure to kill the target before escape. The sequence is time-gated by main story progress — players cannot complete all assassinations immediately. Optimal profit requires buying the correct BAWSAQ stocks on Franklin’s phone before each hit.
Trivia
The assassination chain is single-player only and does not affect GTA Online markets. Community guides map each mission to specific ticker symbols shown on the in-game BAWSAQ app. Rockstar documents these beats in the retail mission text, phone scripts, and pause-menu checklist where applicable.