The Largest Bankruptcies in History

Great graphic up courtesy of Good magazine where they post up the largest bankruptcies in history. They use sinking ships to illustrate their point, with Lehman Brothers by far being the largest ship of the bunch:

(click to enlarge)

Here are some of the breakdowns of the largest US bankruptcies, courtesy of CNN Money:

1. Lehman Brothers Holdings (LEH) on 9/15/08 with $691 Billion in Assets.
2. Washing Mutual (WM) on 9/26/08 with $327.9 Billion in Assets.
3. WorldCom on 7/21/02 with $103.9 Billion in Assets.
4. General Motors (GMGMQ.PK) on 6/1/09 with $91 Billion in Assets.
5. Enron on 12/02/01 with $65.5 Billion in Assets.
6. Conseco (CNO) on 12/17/02 with $61 Billion in Assets.
7. Chrysler on 4/30/09 with $39 Billion in Assets.
8. Thornburg Mortgage (THMR.PK) on 5/1/09 with $36.5 Billion in Assets.
9. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. 4/6/01 with $36 Billion in Assets.
10. Texaco on 4/12/87 with $34.9 Billion in Assets.

Well, at least we all have some nice stories for the grandkids. Oh, wait, never mind: We won't even be able to afford kids, much less grandkids. After all, the government spent tons of money (courtesy of our future) that was kindly used to keep afloat numerous other ships that are not pictured above. We didn't know U.S. dollars could be used as a flotation device...

Comments

[benP:]

Every one of these failures that went into bankruptcy have the same common roots. Miss management and greed by the management staff. While the so called government regulators sat by and did nothing. If past history tells us anything, everyone had the signs of failure and a lot of talk years before reaching the point of collapse.

In the end the insiders made furtunes and let investors and tax payers with massive debit.

Now we are asked to change the rules for auto bailout to level the field. Who are they kidding, GM and Chrysler claim that they are the victim of economic down turn when neither have produced products that they can sell at a profit. This did not just happen. It's been going on for years. Now we have a czar appointed, notice I said appointed, that will get them on track.

I say if they fail, let them go, after all a short term pain will be far better than dragging this out for years as the others on your list.

Jun 16 07:28 AM

[slowdown:]

OMG – are you kidding me? You actually think that the speculation that drove gas prices to over $4.00/gallon and the credit freeze had nothing to do with GM, Ford, Chrysler orToyota’s (yes they borrowed money from their government) current condition? Come on – Ford got lucky – they financed the crap out of everything they owned before the meltdown and are living on it now. Quit pointing the finger in our direction. We were working our plan and it was succeeding. It’s just too bad we didn’t have a crystal ball to show us the tidal wave Wall Street was sending our way that undermined it and sent us in a downward spiral. You may think if you say it loud and long enough…we’ll all believe it…well bad news..we are smarter than that and won’t. And those banks that failed???what was their plan….oh…I forgot…it was AIG.


On Jun 16 07:28 AM benP wrote:

> Every one of these failures that went into bankruptcy have the same
> common roots. Miss management and greed by the management staff.
> While the so called government regulators sat by and did nothing.
> If past history tells us anything, everyone had the signs of failure
> and a lot of talk years before reaching the point of collapse.<br/>
>
> In the end the insiders made furtunes and let investors and tax payers
> with massive debit.
>
> Now we are asked to change the rules for auto bailout to level the
> field. Who are they kidding, GM and Chrysler claim that they are
> the victim of economic down turn when neither have produced products
> that they can sell at a profit. This did not just happen. It's been
> going on for years. Now we have a czar appointed, notice I said appointed,
> that will get them on track.
>
> I say if they fail, let them go, after all a short term pain will
> be far better than dragging this out for years as the others on your
> list.

Jun 16 02:08 PM

[notsosmart:]

this insanity has caused this once great country its future.no matter who said what reality will win out & it wont be pretty.its just starting now in ca.

Jun 16 08:27 PM

[Dan H:]

The car company leadership were inept, for sure, However the Big Investment Firms along with the Rating agencies and Regulators were MALFEASCENT! and ought to go to jail. Now these greedy basTURDS are rushing to return the TARP funds so they can keep paying themselves outlandish salaries, not because they are suddenly in great shape. You know who really runs the show when they supply the Treasury Secretary for the past few admins and they end up being a HUGE recipient of TARP funds throught the AIG bailout! We are now of-the-bankers-by-the-...

Jun 16 09:45 PM

[stocksavy18:]

Other than "slowdown", I agree with all of these points. Although management agreed to it, personally, I think the unions played almost as big a role as management in terms of wasted monies. Too much extra spent on all the extra healthcare, salary for lack of work, etc.

Not that I can blame the unions (we are all out to make money) other than they still couldn't see it a day or two before the bankruptcy!

Aug 05 11:51 AM