Top 10 Companies gone bankrupt with time

The global economic recession that we recently experienced knocked several great economic titans off balance. Here’s a list of the top 10 companies gone bankrupt with time.

1) Lehman Brothers

This global banking giant couldn’t bear the weight of the debts of over $613 billion on its accounts. Lehman brothers filed their chapter 11 and declared bankruptcy in late 2008. This move came as a global shock and marked the beginning of the recent economic depression.

2) Washington Mutual

This used to be the second largest banking firm in the US. Suffering from the general blow to the finance and banking sector, this banking firm went under soon after Lehman Brothers.

3) WorldCom

This perpetrator of the biggest accounting fraud in world history went bankrupt in 2002 when its cover was blown. It comes third on the list of top 10 companies gone bankrupt with time.

4) General Motors

Coming as a global shock to the automotive industry, this seemingly invincible powerhouse that manufactured renowned brands like Chevrolet and Vauxhall went bankrupt in 2009. Though with funds infusion and restructuring, it is back in the black today, but it did give the automobile sector a big shock by going broke.

5) Enron

Another of the big names makes it to number five on our list of top 10 bankrupt companies. This global brand took down with itself a lot of stock holders and is remembered with grim notoriety despite its worth of $65.5 billion at the time of bankruptcy

6) Conseco

Insurance giant Conseco went bankrupt in 2002 leaving a giant void in the insurance sector which its competition wasn’t in a financial position to fill. At number six it is the biggest bankruptcy in the insurance sector.

7) Chrysler

Just before the industry would witness the falling of a legend in the form of GM, one of its founding pillars Chrysler went bankrupt at a value of $39.3 billion and file for their chapter 11 reorganization. This automotive behemoth is considered by some to have greatly weakened the automobile sector as a whole paving way for the falling of General Motors within the next two months.

8) Thornburg Mortgage

Another lending firm joined the league of financial organizations going bankrupt, when Thornburg Mortgage bottomed out under extreme lending pressure. Even after filing for chapter 11 within 24 hours of Chrysler filing its own papers, Thornburg no longer exists as a going concern.

9) Pacific Gas and Electric Company

At number 9 on the list of top 10 bankrupt companies of all time comes Pacific Gas and Electric Company. This was once the largest electricity provider in the Americas and went under in the year 2001 but has since then recovered to its original splendor.

10) Texaco

This company was from one of the core sectors; oil and petroleum. Though it went bankrupt way back in 1987, the gravity of its situation can be estimated by the fact that it still makes it to the list of top 10 companies gone bankrupt with time.