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
