Biology of Business

Dead Companies

252 extinct companies: 236 defunct, 20 bankrupt

Every extinction teaches us something about survival

Notable Extinctions

†

Blockbuster

Video Rental & Entertainment
†

WeWork

Real Estate / Co-working
†

Watson Health

Healthcare Technology
†

Adelphia Communications

Cable Television
†

American Apparel

Retail - Apparel
†

Ascena Retail Group

Retail - Apparel
†

Barneys New York

Retail - Luxury
†

Bethlehem Steel

Steel Manufacturing
†

Boo.com

E-commerce - Fashion
†

Borders Group

Retail - Books
†

Braniff International

Airlines
†

Brooks Brothers

Retail - Apparel

All Dead Companies

A

18 companies
Defunct

A&P (Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company)

Retail - Grocery

A&P's 2015 liquidation ended 156 years of grocery retailing. Once America's largest retailer, A&P couldn't survive compe...
Defunct

A123 Systems

Clean Energy

A123 Systems represented America's great hope in EV battery manufacturing. The company received $249 million in federal...
Defunct

ABC Learning

Education

ABC Learning's 2008 collapse—then Australia's largest childcare operator—demonstrates how rapid franchise expansion can...
Defunct

Abraaj Group

Private Equity

Abraaj, once the developing world's largest private equity firm managing $14 billion, collapsed in 2018 when investors d...
Defunct

Adelphia Communications

Cable Television

Adelphia's 2002 bankruptcy revealed one of the largest family fraud schemes in corporate history—the Rigas family had st...
Defunct

Aereo

Media

Aereo used individual antennas to capture over-the-air TV and stream it to subscribers, exploiting a legal loophole the...
Bankrupt

Aeromexico (Bankruptcy)

Aviation

Aeromexico's 2020 bankruptcy completed the Latin American aviation trifecta of COVID casualties. Mexico's flag carrier f...
Defunct

Alitalia (2017)

Aviation

Alitalia's 2017 bankruptcy was its second - the Italian flag carrier had already failed in 2008. This time, after €7 bil...
Defunct

Aloha Airlines

Aviation

Aloha Airlines' 2008 bankruptcy and closure ended a Hawaiian carrier after 61 years. The company faced impossible econom...
Defunct

Alpha Natural Resources

Mining

Alpha Natural Resources collapsed into bankruptcy in 2015, just four years after its $7.1 billion acquisition of Massey...
Defunct

American Apparel

Retail - Apparel

American Apparel's two bankruptcies (2015, 2016) and liquidation demonstrated how founder-dependent companies can collap...
Defunct

Ann Arbor News

Newspaper

The Ann Arbor News' 2009 closure after 174 years to become online-only demonstrates how digital transformation can equal...
Defunct

Ansett Australia

Aviation

Ansett Australia's 2001 collapse grounded Australia's second-largest airline overnight, stranding 110,000 passengers. Th...
Defunct

Approach Resources

Oil & Gas

Approach Resources' November 2019 bankruptcy exemplified the shale oil bust that killed dozens of E&P companies. The Per...
Defunct

ArcLight Cinemas / Pacific Theatres

Entertainment

ArcLight Cinemas' April 2021 permanent closure shocked Los Angeles - the beloved Cinerama Dome and ArcLight Hollywood wo...
Defunct

Ascena Retail Group

Retail - Apparel

Ascena Retail Group's 2020 bankruptcy demonstrated how retail roll-up strategies can create unwieldy conglomerates that...
Defunct

ATA Airlines

Aviation

ATA Airlines' 2008 closure ended a low-cost carrier that had pioneered cheap flights from the Midwest. The company filed...
Bankrupt

Avianca

Aviation

Avianca's 2020 bankruptcy demonstrates how Latin American airlines face dual vulnerability—currency exposure and travel...

B

23 companies
Defunct

Blockbuster

Video Rental & Entertainment

Blockbuster didn't fail because it missed Netflix. The company knew about Netflix, even considered acquiring them for $5...
Defunct

B. Altman and Company

Department Store

B. Altman's 1989 closure after 124 years demonstrates how real estate value can exceed retail value, creating perverse i...
Defunct

Banco Espírito Santo

Banking

BES's 2014 collapse demonstrates how family-controlled banks can be hollowed out by related-party lending. Portugal's la...
Defunct

Barneys New York

Retail - Luxury

Barneys New York's 2019 bankruptcy ended a luxury retail institution that had shaped American fashion for nearly a centu...
Defunct

Beepi

Automotive

Beepi's 2017 collapse after raising $150 million demonstrates how peer-to-peer used car marketplaces face fundamental un...
Defunct

Bennigan's

Restaurant

Bennigan's 2008 sudden closure—all 150 company-owned locations shuttered overnight—exemplifies how casual dining's middl...
Defunct

Bethlehem Steel

Steel Manufacturing

Bethlehem Steel's 2001 bankruptcy ended a company that had built the Golden Gate Bridge, the Hoover Dam, and the Madison...
Defunct

Better Place

Clean Energy

Better Place's 2013 collapse after $850 million raised demonstrates how infrastructure-first EV strategies can fail. The...
Defunct

Blue Apron

Food

Blue Apron pioneered meal kits but watched its $2 billion IPO valuation collapse to under $100 million as customer acqui...
Defunct

Bodega (Startup)

Retail

Bodega raised $2.5M to replace corner stores with AI-powered vending machines, generating immediate backlash for its nam...
Defunct

Bon-Ton Stores

Retail

Bon-Ton's April 2018 liquidation ended 120 years of regional department store history. The company operated 260 stores a...
Defunct

Bonwit Teller

Luxury Retail

Bonwit Teller's 1990 liquidation ended 95 years of luxury retail and was precipitated by Trump Organization's 1980 demol...
Defunct

Boo.com

E-commerce - Fashion

Boo.com's May 2000 collapse after burning through $135 million in 18 months became the symbol of dot-com hubris. The fas...
Defunct

Borden Dairy

Food Processing

Borden Dairy's January 2020 bankruptcy came two months after Dean Foods, demonstrating the dairy industry's structural c...
Defunct

Borders Group

Retail - Books

Borders' 2011 liquidation ended America's second-largest bookstore chain through a series of mechanism failures so textb...
Defunct

Bradlees

Retail

Bradlees' 2001 liquidation closed 105 discount stores across the Northeast after two bankruptcies (1995, 2000). The comp...
Defunct

Brandless

Consumer Goods

Brandless sold generic products for $3, betting that eliminating brands would eliminate 'brand tax.' SoftBank invested $...
Defunct

Braniff International

Airlines

Braniff International's 1982 bankruptcy was the first major airline failure after deregulation, demonstrating how protec...
Defunct

Breather

Real Estate

Breather raised $120M for on-demand private meeting spaces, essentially WeWork by the hour. The company collapsed during...
Defunct

British Home Stores (BHS)

Retail

BHS's 2016 collapse after sale to serial bankruptcy specialist Dominic Chappell demonstrates how ownership changes can a...
Bankrupt

Brooks Brothers

Retail - Apparel

Brooks Brothers' 2020 bankruptcy ended 202 years of American menswear tradition—the oldest clothing retailer in continuo...
Defunct

Brookstone

Specialty Retail

Brookstone's 2018 bankruptcy and mall store closures ended a gadget retailer that pioneered experiential shopping - mass...
Defunct

Bumble Bee Foods

Food Processing

Bumble Bee's November 2019 bankruptcy collapsed the second-largest canned tuna producer in America. The company pleaded...

C

22 companies
Defunct

Caldor

Retail

Caldor's 1999 bankruptcy and liquidation ended a Northeast discount chain that had expanded too fast with too much debt....
Defunct

Casper Sleep

Consumer Goods

Casper raised $340M and IPO'd at $1.1 billion to become 'the Nike of sleep.' But mattresses are purchased every 8-10 yea...
Bankrupt

CEC Entertainment (Chuck E. Cheese)

Entertainment

Chuck E. Cheese's 2020 bankruptcy demonstrates how entertainment-dining hybrids faced COVID's existential threat. The pi...
Defunct

Celsius Network

Cryptocurrency Lending

Celsius Network's July 2022 bankruptcy destroyed a crypto lending platform that had managed over $10 billion in customer...
Defunct

Century 21

Retail - Department Store

Century 21's 2020 bankruptcy ended a New York retail institution that had operated for 60 years across the street from t...
Defunct

Charlotte Russe

Retail

Charlotte Russe's 2019 liquidation closed 500+ stores of the young women's fashion chain. The company had filed bankrupt...
Defunct

Charming Charlie

Retail

Charming Charlie filed bankruptcy twice - in 2017 and 2019 - before liquidating entirely. The accessories retailer organ...
Defunct

Cherry (Car Wash)

Consumer Services

Cherry raised $9M for on-demand mobile car washing, then collapsed in 2013 when customers wouldn't pay enough to cover l...
Defunct

Chesapeake Energy

Oil & Gas

Chesapeake's 2020 bankruptcy ended the fracking revolution's most aggressive evangelist. Aubrey McClendon built America'...
Defunct

Chi-Chi's

Restaurants - Casual Dining

Chi-Chi's 2003 bankruptcy and closure was triggered by a hepatitis A outbreak that killed 4 people and sickened 660 at a...
Defunct

Christmas Tree Shops

Discount Retail

Christmas Tree Shops' 2023 liquidation demonstrates how seasonal retail dependency creates boom-bust vulnerability. The...
Defunct

Christopher & Banks

Retail

Christopher & Banks' January 2021 bankruptcy ended a 65-year-old women's apparel chain targeting women over 40 in suburb...
Defunct

Chrysler (Pre-Bankruptcy)

Automotive

Chrysler's 2009 bankruptcy—its second near-death experience after 1980—reveals the fragility of organisms that survive t...
Bankrupt

Cineworld (Bankruptcy)

Entertainment

Cineworld's 2022 bankruptcy demonstrates how theater chains face streaming disruption accelerated by COVID. The world's...
Defunct

Cineworld Group

Entertainment

Cineworld's September 2022 bankruptcy collapsed the world's second-largest cinema chain. The UK company had acquired Reg...
Defunct

Claire's Stores

Retail

Claire's March 2018 bankruptcy collapsed the teen accessory giant under $2 billion in debt from a 2007 LBO. Apollo Manag...
Defunct

Coldwater Creek

Retail

Coldwater Creek's 2014 bankruptcy collapsed a catalog and retail brand targeting women over 50. The company had thrived...
Defunct

Colonial Bank

Banking

Colonial Bank's 2009 failure reveals how fraud can remain hidden until economic stress exposes it. Taylor Bean & Whitake...
Defunct

CompUSA

Electronics Retail

CompUSA's decline and 2007 closure by Mexican retailer Grupo Sánchez demonstrated how electronics retail was being squee...
Defunct

Conseco

Financial Services

Conseco's 2002 bankruptcy at $61 billion in assets demonstrated how financial services companies can destroy themselves...
Defunct

Cosi Inc

Restaurant

Cosi's September 2016 bankruptcy collapsed a fast-casual chain known for its signature flatbread sandwiches. The company...
Defunct

Countrywide Financial

Financial Services

Countrywide was America's largest mortgage lender and the poster child for subprime excess before its 2008 distressed sa...

D

9 companies
Defunct

Daewoo Motor

Automotive

Daewoo Motor's 2000 bankruptcy collapsed South Korea's second-largest automaker after the Asian financial crisis exposed...
Defunct

Data General Corporation

Technology

Data General's 1999 sale to EMC ended another minicomputer maker disrupted by PCs and servers. The company featured in T...
Defunct

Deadspin (Shutdown)

Digital Media

Deadspin's 2019 shutdown after 'Stick to Sports' directive demonstrates how media brands can be killed by owners who don...
Bankrupt

Dean Foods

Food & Beverage

Dean Foods' 2019 bankruptcy demonstrates how dairy industry consolidation couldn't save companies from milk consumption...
Defunct

DeLorean Motor Company

Automotive

DeLorean's 1982 bankruptcy collapsed the stainless steel gull-wing sports car company after producing only 9,000 DMC-12s...
Defunct

Delphi Corporation

Auto Parts Manufacturing

Delphi's 2005 bankruptcy was the largest American manufacturing bankruptcy at the time, demonstrating how GM's problems...
Defunct

Destination Maternity

Specialty Retail

Destination Maternity's 2019 bankruptcy collapsed the parent of Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod after birth ra...
Defunct

Digital Equipment Corporation

Technology

DEC's 1998 sale to Compaq ended the minicomputer pioneer that Ken Olsen built. DEC's VAX systems dominated business comp...
Defunct

Duesenberg

Automotive

Duesenberg's 1937 demise during the Depression demonstrates how ultra-luxury goods businesses face existential risk duri...

F

14 companies
Defunct

F.W. Woolworth

Retail

Woolworth's 1997 closure ended the original five-and-dime store concept after 118 years, demonstrating how format pionee...
Defunct

Fab.com

E-commerce

Fab.com's collapse from $1 billion valuation to $15 million sale exemplifies startup hype cycles. The design-focused fla...
Defunct

Fast (Checkout)

Fintech

Fast raised $120M to create a one-click checkout button, then collapsed in 2022 after burning $10M per month with minima...
Defunct

FDX Corporation (Quepasa)

Technology

FDX Corp's 2001 collapse illustrates how tech companies can implode when business models prove entirely fictional. The c...
Defunct

Fisker Automotive

Automotive

Fisker Automotive (the first one) collapsed in 2013, burning through $1.4 billion including $529 million in federal loan...
Defunct

Fisker Inc

Automotive

Fisker's 2024 bankruptcy marked Henrik Fisker's second failed attempt at electric vehicles. After Fisker Automotive's 20...
Defunct

Flooz.com

Digital Currency / E-commerce

Flooz.com's 2001 collapse demonstrated that digital currency concepts predated cryptocurrency by a decade—and failed for...
Bankrupt

Forever 21

Retail - Fast Fashion

Forever 21's 2019 bankruptcy was unexpected for a fast fashion retailer that had seemed to understand millennial and Gen...
Defunct

Francesca's

Retail

Francesca's December 2020 bankruptcy collapsed the women's boutique chain after a decade of decline. The company had gro...
Defunct

Friendly's

Restaurants - Family Dining

Friendly's repeated bankruptcies (2011, 2020) illustrate how organisms can enter extinction spirals where each near-deat...
Defunct

Friendster

Social Media

Friendster's decline from social network pioneer to footnote demonstrates how first-mover advantage can be squandered. T...
Bankrupt

Frontier Communications (Bankruptcy)

Telecommunications

Frontier's 2020 bankruptcy after acquiring Verizon's landlines demonstrates how legacy telecom assets can be poisoned pi...
Defunct

Fry's Electronics

Electronics Retail

Fry's Electronics' February 2021 closure ended a 36-year-old chain that had been beloved by tech enthusiasts for its war...
Defunct

FTX

Cryptocurrency

FTX's 2022 collapse from $32 billion to bankruptcy in 10 days represents the fastest destruction of institutional value...

G

10 companies
Defunct

Gander Mountain

Retail - Outdoor

Gander Mountain's 2017 bankruptcy and partial acquisition by Camping World demonstrated how outdoor retail was consolida...
Defunct

Garden Fresh Restaurants

Restaurant

Garden Fresh Restaurants' May 2020 bankruptcy permanently closed both Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes chains. The compa...
Defunct

General Motors (Pre-Bankruptcy)

Automotive

GM's 2009 bankruptcy—the largest industrial bankruptcy in history—demonstrates how legacy costs can crush even dominant...
Defunct

Gimbels

Department Store

Gimbels' 1987 closure ended the retailer immortalized in 'Miracle on 34th Street,' demonstrating how department stores f...
Bankrupt

Gold's Gym

Fitness

Gold's Gym's May 2020 bankruptcy collapsed the iconic bodybuilding brand that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's career. T...
Defunct

Gottschalks

Retail

Gottschalks' 2009 liquidation closed a 105-year-old California department store chain. The company operated 58 stores in...
Defunct

GoTV Networks

Media

GoTV Networks, a mobile video pioneer, collapsed in 2007 after betting on mobile TV before smartphones existed. The comp...
Defunct

Grooveshark

Music Streaming

Grooveshark's 2015 shutdown from copyright lawsuits demonstrates how unlicensed music services face legal destruction. T...
Defunct

GTL Limited

Telecommunications

GTL Limited's 2012 bankruptcy represented India's largest corporate debt default at the time - $2.8 billion owed to 26 b...
Defunct

Gymboree

Retail - Children's Apparel

Gymboree's two bankruptcies (2017, 2019) and ultimate liquidation demonstrated how children's apparel retail was being d...

H

13 companies
Defunct

Hahnemann University Hospital

Healthcare

Hahnemann's September 2019 closure demonstrated predatory real estate conversion in healthcare. Private equity firm Pala...
Defunct

Halcón Resources

Oil & Gas

Halcón Resources' August 2019 bankruptcy was the company's second in three years - it had emerged from Chapter 11 in 201...
Bankrupt

Hertz (Bankruptcy)

Car Rental

Hertz's 2020 bankruptcy demonstrates how travel-dependent businesses faced existential crisis during COVID. The rental c...
Defunct

Hexion Holdings

Chemicals

Hexion's April 2019 bankruptcy collapsed a specialty chemicals company assembled through private equity acquisitions. Ap...
Defunct

hhgregg

Retail

hhgregg's 2017 liquidation closed 220 appliance and electronics stores after Amazon and Best Buy squeezed the regional c...
Defunct

HHGregg

Electronics/Appliance Retail

HHGregg's 2017 liquidation ended a regional electronics and appliance retailer that had operated for 60 years across the...
Defunct

HIH Insurance

Insurance

HIH's 2001 collapse—Australia's largest corporate failure—demonstrates how insurance can mask insolvency through reserve...
Defunct

Homejoy

Gig Economy

Homejoy's 2015 shutdown demonstrates how gig economy companies face classification liability that destroys them. The hou...
Defunct

Horn & Hardart Automats

Restaurant

Horn & Hardart's 1991 closure ended the automat concept after 89 years, demonstrating how labor cost advantages disappea...
Defunct

Hostess Brands (2012)

Food Manufacturing

Hostess Brands' 2012 liquidation ended the company that made Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and Ho Hos—brands that had been Ame...
Defunct

House of Fraser

Department Store

House of Fraser's 2018 collapse and fire-sale to Sports Direct demonstrates how luxury retail brands can be gutted by va...
Defunct

Howard Johnson's

Restaurant/Hospitality

Howard Johnson's century-long decline from America's largest restaurant chain to a single location illustrates format ob...
Defunct

Hummer (Brand)

Automotive

Hummer's 2010 discontinuation by GM demonstrates how fuel price spikes can instantly kill vehicle segments. The military...

M

14 companies
Defunct

Maple

Food Delivery

Maple, David Chang's premium meal delivery startup, raised $29M before shutting down in 2017. The company discovered tha...
Defunct

McClatchy

Publishing - Newspapers

McClatchy's 2020 bankruptcy ended 163 years of newspaper publishing, including the Miami Herald and Sacramento Bee. The...
Defunct

Medley Management

Financial Services

Medley Management, a business development company manager, collapsed in 2021 after years of related-party transactions e...
Defunct

Mercury (Brand)

Automotive

Mercury's 2011 discontinuation ended Ford's intermediate brand after 72 years of increasingly confused positioning. Orig...
Defunct

Mervyn's

Retail - Department Store

Mervyn's 2008 liquidation ended a California department store chain after private equity ownership extracted real estate...
Defunct

Midway Airlines (2003)

Aviation

Midway Airlines' 2003 closure was the second death for an airline name that had failed in 1991. The 2001 revival attempt...
Defunct

Modell's Sporting Goods

Retail - Sporting Goods

Modell's March 2020 bankruptcy ended 131 years of family ownership. The Northeast sporting goods chain faced competition...
Defunct

Monarch Airlines

Airlines

Monarch Airlines' 2017 collapse stranded 110,000 passengers in the UK's largest peacetime repatriation. The 49-year-old...
Defunct

Montgomery Ward

Retail

Montgomery Ward's 2001 liquidation ended a 128-year retail history. The company that pioneered mail-order catalogs and h...
Defunct

Motorola Mobility

Consumer Electronics

Motorola Mobility's 2012 acquisition by Google for $12.5 billion, then 2014 sale to Lenovo for $2.9 billion, demonstrate...
Defunct

MoviePass

Entertainment Subscription

MoviePass's 2019 collapse demonstrated that subsidized unit economics can create rapid growth that accelerates death rat...
Defunct

MUJI USA

Retail

MUJI USA's July 2020 bankruptcy collapsed the American arm of Japan's minimalist retailer. The company had expanded to 1...
Defunct

Munchery

Food Delivery

Munchery's 2019 sudden shutdown—employees learned via text—demonstrates how food delivery faces death spirals. The prepa...
Defunct

Myspace

Social Media

Myspace's decline from $580 million (2005) to $35 million sale (2011) exemplifies how network effects can reverse. In 20...

P

21 companies
Defunct

Pacific Lumber Company

Forestry

Pacific Lumber's 2007 bankruptcy collapsed a redwood logging company after hostile takeover by MAXXAM Inc. stripped its...
Defunct

Palm Inc

Technology

Palm's 2010 acquisition by HP for $1.2 billion ended the PDA pioneer that invented the modern smartphone category. Palm'...
Defunct

Pan American World Airways

Airlines

Pan Am's 1991 bankruptcy ended an airline that had defined international aviation. The company pioneered transoceanic fl...
Defunct

Panasonic Mobile Communications

Technology

Panasonic's 2013 exit from smartphone manufacturing ended the Japanese electronics giant's mobile ambitions. Despite str...
Bankrupt

Paper Source

Specialty Retail

Paper Source's 2021 bankruptcy demonstrates how specialty retail faces digital obsolescence. The stationery retailer sel...
Defunct

Papyrus

Retail

Papyrus closed in January 2020 - weeks before COVID - demonstrating that the greeting card industry's collapse predated...
Defunct

Patisserie Valerie

Restaurant

Patisserie Valerie's 2019 collapse from accounting fraud demonstrates how franchise growth can conceal problems until re...
Defunct

Patriot Coal

Mining

Patriot Coal's story is one of deliberately manufactured failure. Peabody Energy spun off Patriot in 2007, stuffing it w...
Defunct

Payless ShoeSource

Retail - Footwear

Payless ShoeSource's two bankruptcies (2017, 2019) and liquidation ended America's largest discount footwear retailer, d...
Defunct

Pebble

Consumer Electronics

Pebble's 2016 sale to Fitbit for just $23 million after pioneering smartwatches demonstrates how category creators can b...
Defunct

People Express

Airlines

People Express's 1986 absorption into Continental demonstrated how low-cost airline strategies can succeed spectacularly...
Defunct

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery

Restaurant

Perkins' August 2019 bankruptcy collapsed the family dining chain known for breakfast and baked goods. The company opera...
Defunct

Pets.com

E-commerce / Pet Supplies

Pets.com's 268-day lifespan from IPO to liquidation made its sock puppet mascot the face of dot-com excess. The company...
Bankrupt

Philippine Airlines (Bankruptcy)

Aviation

Philippine Airlines' 2021 Chapter 11 demonstrates how Asian flag carriers faced COVID-accelerated decline. Asia's oldest...
Defunct

Piccadilly Restaurants

Restaurant

Piccadilly's 2019 Chapter 11 filing came after years of decline for the Southern cafeteria chain. The company had been t...
Defunct

Pier 1 Imports

Retail - Home Goods

Pier 1 Imports' 2020 liquidation ended a home goods retailer that had been declining for a decade before COVID-19 delive...
Defunct

Plymouth

Automotive

Plymouth's 2001 discontinuation ended Chrysler's mass-market brand after 73 years. The brand had been Chrysler's volume...
Defunct

Polaroid (Bankruptcy)

Photography

Polaroid's 2001 bankruptcy demonstrates how instant gratification businesses face extinction when faster alternatives em...
Defunct

PopChest

Technology

PopChest raised $2M to create a YouTube competitor where creators owned their content via blockchain. The company shut d...
Defunct

Prime Computer

Technology

Prime Computer's 1992 bankruptcy ended another minicomputer maker. The company had been profitable throughout the 1980s...
Defunct

Proteus Digital Health

Healthcare Technology

Proteus Digital Health raised $500M to revolutionize medicine with ingestible sensors that tracked medication compliance...

R

10 companies
Defunct

RadioShack

Electronics Retail

RadioShack's slow death across two bankruptcies (2015, 2017) and ultimate liquidation illustrates how an organism can lo...
Defunct

Rdio

Music Streaming

Rdio's 2015 bankruptcy demonstrates how music streaming platforms face winner-take-most dynamics. Despite superior desig...
Defunct

Refco

Financial Services

Refco's 2005 collapse came just weeks after its IPO, when it was revealed that CEO Phillip Bennett had hidden $430 milli...
Defunct

Relativity Media

Entertainment

Relativity's 2015 bankruptcy demonstrates how film studios can collapse from financial engineering gone wrong. Ryan Kava...
Defunct

Reliance Communications

Telecommunications

Reliance Communications' 2019 insolvency ended Anil Ambani's telecom ambitions and demonstrated sibling rivalry as busin...
Bankrupt

Revlon (Bankruptcy)

Consumer Goods

Revlon's 2022 bankruptcy demonstrates how legacy beauty brands face disruption from DTC and influencer brands. The 90-ye...
Bankrupt

Rite Aid

Pharmacy Retail

Rite Aid is the third-largest pharmacy chain in the United States, operating primarily on the East and West coasts. The...
Defunct

RTW Retailwinds

Retail

RTW Retailwinds (formerly New York & Company) filed bankruptcy in July 2020, collapsing a workwear retailer that had piv...
Defunct

Rue La La

E-commerce

Rue La La was sold multiple times at declining valuations: $350 million in 2009 to GSI Commerce, which was sold to eBay,...
Defunct

Rue21 (Bankruptcy)

Teen Apparel

Rue21's 2017 bankruptcy after expanding to 1,200 locations demonstrates how aggressive expansion can accelerate death. T...

S

23 companies
Defunct

Sabena

Aviation

Sabena's 2001 bankruptcy ended Belgium's 78-year-old flag carrier and triggered Swissair's collapse. The airline had bee...
Defunct

Sam Goody / Musicland

Retail

Musicland's 2006 bankruptcy collapsed Sam Goody, Suncoast, and Media Play stores after Best Buy sold the chain for $408...
Defunct

Sambo's Restaurants

Restaurant

Sambo's collapse from 1,117 locations in 1979 to bankruptcy in 1981 demonstrates how brand toxicity can kill organisms r...
Defunct

Sanchez Energy

Oil & Gas

Sanchez Energy's August 2019 bankruptcy collapsed an Eagle Ford shale operator that had grown through aggressive drillin...
Bankrupt

Sears Holdings

Retail

Sears' 2018 bankruptcy ended a 132-year run that once made it America's largest retailer. The company's collapse wasn't...
Defunct

Secret

Social Media

Secret's 2015 shutdown after raising $35 million demonstrates how anonymous apps face rapid user exodus when novelty fad...
Defunct

Shopko

Retail

Shopko's January 2019 bankruptcy collapsed a Midwestern discount department store chain serving small towns that Walmart...
Defunct

Shyp

Logistics

Shyp raised $62M to let consumers photograph items and have them picked up, packaged, and shipped. The company discovere...
Defunct

Signature Bank

Banking

Signature Bank's 2023 failure two days after SVB demonstrates how crypto exposure and contagion combine fatally. The ban...
Defunct

Silicon Graphics

Technology

Silicon Graphics' 2009 bankruptcy ended a pioneer in 3D graphics that had powered Hollywood visual effects. SGI workstat...
Defunct

Silicon Valley Bank

Banking

Silicon Valley Bank's March 2023 collapse was the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and demonstrated how inter...
Defunct

Sizzler USA

Restaurant

Sizzler USA's September 2020 bankruptcy collapsed the American operations of the steakhouse-buffet chain. The brand had...
Defunct

Solyndra

Solar Manufacturing

Solyndra's 2011 bankruptcy became a political symbol of government investment failure, but the company's collapse was fu...
Defunct

Sony Ericsson Mobile

Consumer Electronics

Sony Ericsson's decline from premium phone maker to exit demonstrates how joint ventures can prevent adaptation. Neither...
Defunct

Sports Authority

Retail - Sporting Goods

Sports Authority's 2016 liquidation ended America's largest sporting goods chain at a time when Americans were spending...
Defunct

Sprig

Food Delivery

Sprig's 2017 shutdown demonstrates how premium food delivery faces unit economics that don't scale. The healthy meal del...
Defunct

Stage Stores

Retail

Stage Stores' May 2020 bankruptcy collapsed 738 stores operating under names like Bealls, Goody's, Palais Royal, and Pee...
Defunct

Steak 'n Ale

Restaurant

Steak 'n Ale's 2008 closure alongside sister chain Bennigan's demonstrates how restaurant concepts age out of relevance....
Defunct

Stein Mart

Off-Price Retail

Stein Mart's August 2020 bankruptcy ended 112 years of discount retail. The Jacksonville-based chain operated 281 stores...
Defunct

Steinhoff International

Retail

Steinhoff's 2017 implosion ranks among the largest accounting frauds in history - €10 billion in fabricated profits over...
Defunct

SunEdison

Clean Energy

SunEdison's 2016 bankruptcy was the largest in solar history - $16 billion in debt. The company invented the yieldco mod...
Defunct

Sur La Table

Retail

Sur La Table's July 2020 bankruptcy collapsed the upscale kitchenware retailer after COVID shuttered its cooking classes...
Defunct

Swissair

Aviation

Swissair's 2001 bankruptcy shocked the world - Switzerland's flag carrier, once called the 'Flying Bank' for its financi...

T

15 companies
Defunct

Tailored Brands

Retail - Menswear

Tailored Brands' 2020 bankruptcy ended the parent company of Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, demonstrating how workpla...
Defunct

Terra (LUNA)

Cryptocurrency

Terra's May 2022 collapse destroyed $40 billion in value within a week, demonstrating how algorithmic stablecoin mechani...
Defunct

Texaco (Bankruptcy)

Oil & Gas

Texaco's 1987 bankruptcy—triggered by a $10.5 billion Pennzoil judgment—represents the largest verdict-driven failure in...
Defunct

TGI Fridays

Restaurants - Casual Dining

TGI Fridays' 2024 bankruptcy ended the casual dining chain that had pioneered the 'fern bar' concept in 1965. The compan...
Bankrupt

Thai Airways (Bankruptcy)

Aviation

Thai Airways' 2020 bankruptcy demonstrates how state airlines face political constraints that prevent restructuring unti...
Defunct

The Weekly Standard

Magazine

The Weekly Standard's 2018 closure demonstrates how ideological publications face extinction when they diverge from thei...
Defunct

The Weinstein Company

Entertainment

TWC's 2018 bankruptcy after Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse exposure demonstrates how organizations can be destroyed by...
Defunct

Thomas Cook (Collapse)

Travel

Thomas Cook's 2019 collapse ended 178 years of travel history and stranded 600,000 tourists worldwide. The company could...
Defunct

Thomas Cook Group

Travel/Tourism

Thomas Cook's 2019 collapse ended 178 years of history - the company that invented the package holiday couldn't survive...
Defunct

Trans World Airlines (TWA)

Airlines

TWA's 2001 absorption by American Airlines ended an airline that had defined transcontinental and transatlantic travel f...
Defunct

Trump Taj Mahal

Gaming/Hospitality

Trump Taj Mahal's multiple bankruptcies (1991, 2014, 2016) demonstrated how Atlantic City's decline killed even its larg...
Defunct

Tucker Corporation

Automotive

Tucker Corporation's 1949 collapse ended Preston Tucker's attempt to revolutionize automotive safety and design. The Tuc...
Defunct

Tucson Citizen

Newspaper

The Tucson Citizen's 2009 closure ended Arizona's oldest newspaper at 138 years. The joint operating agreement with Ariz...
Defunct

Tuesday Morning

Retail - Home Goods

Tuesday Morning's multiple bankruptcies (2020, 2023) demonstrated how off-price retail struggled when consumer spending...
Defunct

Tupperware Brands

Consumer Goods

Tupperware's 2024 bankruptcy ended a brand that defined mid-century American domesticity. The direct sales model that bu...

W

14 companies
Defunct

WeWork

Real Estate / Co-working

WeWork became biology's most expensive teaching moment: a $47 billion cautionary tale about what happens when growth has...
Defunct

Watson Health

Healthcare Technology

IBM Watson Health was IBM's healthcare AI division, launched in 2015 with the acquisition of health data companies Phyte...
Defunct

Waldenbooks / B. Dalton

Retail

Waldenbooks and B. Dalton, Borders Group's mall-based chains, closed before the parent company's final liquidation. The...
Defunct

Wang Laboratories

Technology

Wang Laboratories' 1992 bankruptcy collapsed a word processing giant that couldn't transition to personal computers. The...
Defunct

Washington Mutual

Banking

Washington Mutual's September 2008 failure remains the largest bank collapse in U.S. history—$307 billion in assets wipe...
Defunct

Washio

Consumer Services

Washio raised $17M for on-demand laundry pickup, then collapsed in 2016 when it couldn't achieve profitability. The comp...
Defunct

Webvan

E-commerce - Grocery

Webvan's 2001 collapse after burning through $1.2 billion demonstrated that being right about the future doesn't guarant...
Defunct

Wet Seal (Final)

Teen Apparel

Wet Seal's 2017 final closure after emerging from 2015 bankruptcy demonstrates how teen retail's decline was structural,...
Bankrupt

WeWork (Crisis)

Real Estate

WeWork's 2019 failed IPO at $47 billion valuation followed by 2023 bankruptcy demonstrates how real estate arbitrage dre...
Defunct

Willys-Overland

Automotive

Willys-Overland's 1953 sale to Kaiser-Frazer ended the company that built the WWII Jeep. Willys couldn't convert wartime...
Defunct

Winn-Dixie

Grocery Retail

Winn-Dixie's 2005 bankruptcy illustrates how regional dominance provides no protection against national predators. The S...
Defunct

Winn-Dixie Stores (2005)

Retail

Winn-Dixie's 2005 bankruptcy collapsed a once-dominant Southern grocery chain. The company had operated 1,000+ stores ac...
Defunct

Wirecard

Financial Technology

Wirecard's 2020 collapse after €1.9 billion went 'missing' was Europe's largest accounting fraud. The German payments co...
Defunct

WorldCom

Telecommunications

WorldCom's $104 billion bankruptcy in 2002 revealed how acquisitive growth strategies can become pathological when the a...