| It is estimated that 1 out of every 3 businesses fail in | | | | - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The multinational |
| their first year of operation, and many more fail in their | | | | financial giant was worth a reported $691 billion when it |
| second and third year. Only a small percentage of | | | | lost most of its clients and devaluation of its assets, |
| businesses make it through the fifth year of operation, | | | | forcing it to fold in 2008. |
| and even fewer make it to the big-time. | | | | - Washington Mutual, Inc. Another victim of the 2008 |
| For many people, the idea of a large company failing is | | | | economic collapse, Washington Mutual was valued at |
| a bit foreign. After all, it's hard to imagine a ubiquitous | | | | $327 billion when the bank was cleared out of $16.4 |
| company that affects our everyday life simply ceasing | | | | billion in hard assets in a 10-day run. This was the |
| to exist. Imagine America without Ford, Microsoft, | | | | largest bank failure in US history. |
| General Electric and it's just not quite the same. But the | | | | - WorldCom. The telecommunications company was |
| fact that a company is big does not protect it from | | | | valued at $103.9 billion when it filed for Chapter 11 in |
| failing. Several times in recent history, large, multinational | | | | 2002, making it the largest bankruptcy filing at the time. |
| companies have, for various reasons, faltered. Below | | | | The company had come under fire for massive fraud. |
| is a list of some of the most notable collapses of | | | | These are just a few of the large companies which |
| major corporations. | | | | have failed over the past ten years. |