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Corporate Event

Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers

Also Known As Crash of '08 · Lehman Shock
Bankruptcies and Collapses

Lehman Brothers, a major American investment bank, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008, at the time the largest bankruptcy filing in United States history, involving more than six hundred billion dollars in assets. The collapse stemmed from the firm's heavy exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis and triggered a sharp single-day plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The event is widely regarded as the climax of the 2008 financial crisis. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Event Type
Bankruptcy 1
Event Year
2008 1
Connections

Associated With

Finance, Practice Disciplines

Lehman's 2008 collapse, driven by excessive leverage and a failed capital structure, is finance practice's leading case study in capital structure risk and helped precipitate the global financial crisis.

Source Wikipedia, Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
Source Wikipedia, Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers

The firm whose September 2008 Chapter 11 filing this event names.

Companies Involved

Source Wikipedia, Lehman Brothers
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
Wikipedia
  • Lead section
    The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, also known as the Crash of '08 and the Lehman Shock, on September 15, 2008, was the climax of the subprime mortgage crisis.
  • Associated With: Finance, Bankruptcy filing section
    The filing remains the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, with Lehman holding over $600 billion in assets.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Lehman Brothers
Wikipedia
  • Bankruptcy section
    On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with bank debt of $613 billion, $155 billion in bond debt, and assets worth $639 billion; the filing was the largest in US history, having beaten the previous record holder Worldcom, Inc.
  • Companies Involved: Lehman Brothers
View the Source
Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy considered historic?

It remains the largest corporate bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, with 639 billion dollars in assets.

When Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008, it held assets worth 639 billion dollars against 613 billion dollars of bank debt and 155 billion dollars of bond debt, making it the largest bankruptcy filing in United States history, surpassing WorldCom's 2002 filing. The collapse became a defining moment of the global financial crisis.
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