The 1720 French stock-market bubble centered on John Law’s Mississippi Company was called the Mississippi Bubble.
John Law, a Scottish financier, gained control of the company and promoted its shares while also helping develop France’s paper-money system. Investors were attracted by claims about the company’s trading and colonial opportunities in North America, especially the Mississippi River region.
Share prices rose dramatically in 1719 and early 1720. Speculation then reversed, confidence in the company and its paper currency weakened, and prices collapsed later in 1720. Many investors suffered major losses, including members of the French elite.
The Mississippi Bubble is often mentioned alongside the South Sea Bubble in Britain because both collapsed in 1720. They were separate schemes in different countries, however. The earlier Dutch tulip episode is also a different historical event and did not involve a stock company of the same kind.