Column chart showing top 20 bankruptcies since 1980: number 1 is Lehman Brothers, 2008, financial services, assets of 691 billion US$; number 2 is Washingtom Mutual, 2008, financial services, 328 billion US$; number 3 is WorldCom, 2002, telecomunications, 122 billion US$; number 4 is Enron, 2001, energy, 78 billion US$, number 5 is Conseco, 2002, financial services, 72 billion US$.

The magnitude of the losses caused by large company failures can be better appreciated by comparing the asset values to the GDP (gross domestic product) of familiar nations. Lehman Brothers compares with the Netherlands (2008 GDP of 687.5 billion US$ PPP); Washington Mutual with Austria (GDP of 325 billion US$ PPP); WorldCom with Slovakia (GDP of 121.3 billion PPP), or Enron with Croatia (GDP of 75.93 billion US$ PPP).

 

The 20 largest company bankruptcies, 1980-2008

Company

Date

Business

Pre-petition assets

billion current US$ billion constant US$ (2008=100)
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. 2008-09-15 Investment Bank 691 691
Washington Mutual, Inc. 2008-09-26 Savings & Loan Holding Co. 328 328
WorldCom, Inc. 2002-07-21 Telecommunications 104 122
Enron Corp. 2001-12-02 Energy Trading, Natural Gas 66 78
Conseco, Inc. 2002-12-18 Financial Services Holding Co. 61 72
Texaco, Inc. 1987-04-12 Petroleum & Petrochemicals 35 58
Financial Corp. of America 1988-09-09 Financial Services & Savings and Loans 34 55
Pacific Gas and Electric Company 2001-04-06 Electricity & Natural Gas 36 43
Bank of New England Corp. 1991-01-07 Interstate Bank Holding Company 30 43
Refco Inc. 2005-10-17 Brokerage Services 33 36
Global Crossing, Ltd. 2002-01-28 Global Telecommunications Carrier 30 35
IndyMac Bancorp, Inc. 2008-07-31 Bank Holding Company 33 33
MCorp 1989-03-31 Banking & Financial Services 20 31
UAL Corporation 2002-12-09 Passenger Air Carrier 25 30
Calpine Corporation 2005-12-20 Integrated Power Company 27 29
New Century Financial Corporation 2007-04-02 Real Estate Investment Trust 26 27
Adelphia Communications Corp. 2002-06-25 Telecommunications 21 25
Delta Air Lines, Inc. 2005-09-14 Passenger Airline 22 24
Mirant Corporation 2003-07-14 Electric Services 19 22
American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. 2007-08-06 Real Estate Investment Services 19 19

 

Source: see BankruptcyData

 

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