capitalism can be so cruel welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten companies
that went bankrupt hey if you like this
video click on the link below to check
out our discussion of a bankruptcies / a
mojo tox for this list we’ll be looking
at the biggest firms and corporations to
have gone bankrupt over the years
we’ll only be including companies that
have officially gone bankrupt stores
that have simply closed their doors will
not be included
it also doesn’t matter if the companies
survive the bankruptcy as long as they
declared it they will be included number
10
Pacific Gas & Electric Company the
Pacific Gas & Electric Company
known primarily as PG&E is a utility
company that provides you guested gas
and electricity to roughly 5 million
people in Northern California California
suffered a major drought in 2001 which
severely limited the available amount of
hydroelectric power PG&E were
subsequently forced into buying
exorbitantly priced electricity from out
of state which resulted in massive
losses the utility company entered
bankruptcy in April 2001 as a result
California lost about forty five billion
dollars and millions of people were
forced to pay higher than average
electricity prices to make up for the
dead number nine Toys R Us Toys R Us was
once one of the biggest toy stores in
the world it was founded in 1948 and
subsequently opened nearly 1800 stores
around the world including 800 in the
United States alone however due to a
large variety of factors know not just
that kids would rather spend their time
with a smartphone Toys R Us filed for
chapter 11 on September 18th 2017 the
company had amassed five billion in debt
and hadn’t seen profit for nearly five
years in March 2018 the company
announced that was closing every one of
their UK and American stores totaling
roughly nine hundred outlets number
eight Kodak Kodak was once the name in
photography and film the company was
founded in 1888 and enjoyed immense
prosperity throughout much of the
following century however the company
struggled upon the advent and rise of
digital photography and they were slow
to transition to that quickly dominant
trend they eventually filed for chapter
11 bankruptcy in January 2012 the
company stopped making various products
as a result of the bankruptcy and sold
off various patents to other companies
to the tune of five hundred and
twenty-one
million dollars but the company rose
from the ashes in September 2013 and is
still in operation as of 2018 number 7
Blockbuster who didn’t see this coming
like Radio Shack and HMV time wasn’t
kind to Blockbuster blockbuster
dominated the video rental market
throughout the 90s and early 2000s
operating over nine thousand stores and
employing eighty four thousand people
however with the rise of Red Box
pirating video on-demand and especially
Netflix Blockbuster lost significant
revenue and filed for bankruptcy in 2010
as of 2018 only a handful of blockbuster
stores remain many people in the
industry blamed blockbuster for its own
downfall with some citing poor
management and senseless business
tactics but hey at least the closures
gave us that hilarious last blockbuster
Twitter account number six
CIT group CIT group named after its
early title of commercial investment
trusts is five hundred and fiftieth on
Fortune’s 1000 largest American
companies list as of 2018 however the
financial services giant suffered
significant problems amidst the Great
Recession of the late 2000s who filed
for bankruptcy protection in November
2009 by mid 2009 CIT had amassed roughly
65 billion dollars in debt and while the
filing was expected and prepared for it
was still one of the biggest
bankruptcies in American history
CIT emerged from bankruptcy after only
thirty eight days making it the only
financial sector company at the time to
do so number five WorldCom WorldCom was
a telecommunications company who filed
for chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2002
at the time this was the largest
bankruptcy in American history and with
it came many changes to the company
WorldCom paid 750 million dollars to the
US Securities and Exchange Commission a
new CEO was hired the company moved from
Mississippi to Virginia and changed his
name to MCI incorporated MCI emerged
from bankruptcy in 2004 although many of
its creditors were left unpaid some of
these creditors included laid off
employees who never received severance
or benefits WorldCom’s co-founder and
CEO Bernard Ebbers was later convicted
of fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to
25 years in prison
number four Enron the Enron affair is
one of the most well known financial
scandals in American history and the
name Enron has since become synonymous
with corporate fraud and corruption and
Ron was founded in 1985 and quickly
became one of the most prosperous
suppliers of electricity and natural gas
in 2000 and Ron
so over a hundred billion dollars in
revenue or did they
in 2001 Enron was revealed to be
perpetrating massive amounts of
accounting fraud the company quickly
entered bankruptcy some people went to
jail employees lost billions in pensions
and the ordeal caused massive shockwaves
throughout the business world number
three General Motors General Motors is
one of the most iconic car companies of
all time in 2016 over 10 million GM
vehicles were sold around the globe
however like most companies at the time
including rival car manufacturer
Chrysler GM suffered heavily in the
great recession and went bankrupt in
June 2009 they emerged from this
financial purgatory roughly one month
later with significant help from the
government through its troubled asset
relief program as a result of the
bankruptcy GM discontinued various
brands including Saturn and Pontiac
number two Washington Mutual Washington
Mutual was once a holding company who
owned the largest thrift institution in
the United States by 2007 Washington
Mutual employed over 40,000 people had
over a hundred and eighty eight billion
in deposits and had assets valued at
over three hundred and twenty seven
billion dollars and like other companies
including CNO financial and MF Global it
all went kaput in September 2008 the
FDIC took control of WaMu after sixteen
billion dollars was withdrawn from the
bank the very next day Washington Mutual
Incorporated filed for bankruptcy and by
2009 WaMu branches became Chase branches
bondholders lost thirty billion dollars
and Washington Mutual had a reputation
as the largest failed bank in American
history before we unveil our top pick
number one Lehman Brothers the fall of
Lehman Brothers is arguably the most
notable and extreme example of
bankruptcy in the history of the United
States Lehman Brothers was founded in
1850 and by 2008 it was America’s fourth
largest investment bank
however Lehman Brothers became involved
in the subprime mortgage crisis of the
late 2000s resulting in a host of
financial liabilities that led to its
declaration of bankruptcy in September
2008 at the time the bank owned six
hundred and thirty-nine billion in
assets but were over seven hundred and
fifty billion dollars in debt the
bankruptcy was the largest in American
history and it significantly weakened
the already fragile financial markets at
a vulnerable time if you like this video
a reminder to head over to mojo talks
for our discussion about companies that
went bankrupt click on the link below
you [Music]