Biggest Corporate Bankruptcies
Company↕ | Year Filed↕ | Assets (USD B)↕ | Industry↕ | Country↕ | Cause↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lehman Brothers | 2008 | 691 | Investment Banking | United States | Subprime mortgage exposure, no federal bailout, triggered global financial crisis |
Washington Mutual | 2008 | 328 | Banking | United States | Mortgage loan losses, bank run, largest bank failure in US history, seized by FDIC |
WorldCom | 2002 | 104 | Telecommunications | United States | 11 billion dollar accounting fraud inflating earnings, CEO Bernie Ebbers jailed |
General Motors | 2009 | 91 | Automotive | United States | Financial crisis collapsed auto sales, legacy pension costs, required 50 billion dollar bailout |
CIT Group | 2009 | 80 | Financial Services | United States | Subprime lending losses during financial crisis, emerged 38 days later |
Enron | 2001 | 65 | Energy Trading | United States | Massive accounting fraud hiding losses via off-balance-sheet entities, destroyed Arthur Andersen |
Conseco | 2002 | 61 | Insurance | United States | Crushing debt from mobile home lending acquisition, stock fell from 58 to pennies |
Chrysler | 2009 | 39 | Automotive | United States | Financial crisis, gas prices, legacy costs, bailout and Fiat takeover |
Thornburg Mortgage | 2009 | 36 | Mortgage | United States | Jumbo mortgage lender caught in credit crunch, margin calls forced liquidation |
Pacific Gas and Electric | 2019 | 71 | Utilities | United States | 30 billion dollar wildfire liabilities from equipment sparking California blazes |
Texaco | 1987 | 35 | Oil & Gas | United States | 10.5 billion dollar court judgment to Pennzoil over Getty Oil merger dispute |
FCOJ - FTX | 2022 | 11 | Crypto Exchange | Bahamas | Fraud by Sam Bankman-Fried, customer funds sent to Alameda Research, bank run |
Refco | 2005 | 33 | Brokerage | United States | CEO Phillip Bennett hid 430 million dollar debt, collapsed one week after IPO |
IndyMac Bancorp | 2008 | 32 | Banking | United States | Alt-A mortgage specialist, bank run, seized by FDIC, second-largest bank failure |
Global Crossing | 2002 | 30 | Telecommunications | Bermuda | Dotcom bust, overbuilt fiber capacity, accounting irregularities |
Kodak | 2012 | 5 | Photography | United States | Failed to pivot from film to digital despite inventing digital camera in 1975 |
Toys R Us | 2017 | 7 | Retail | United States | Crushing private equity debt from Bain/KKR buyout, Amazon competition |
Silicon Valley Bank | 2023 | 209 | Banking | United States | Duration mismatch on bond portfolio, tech deposit flight triggered bank run |
Signature Bank | 2023 | 110 | Banking | United States | Crypto-exposed deposits fled after SVB collapse, seized by regulators |
MF Global | 2011 | 41 | Brokerage | United States | Jon Corzine bet big on European sovereign debt, 1.6 billion dollars of customer funds missing |
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