The 2000–2002 market collapse that followed the technology-stock bubble was the Dot-com crash.
During the late 1990s, investors poured money into internet and technology companies. Many businesses had little revenue or profit, yet their share prices rose rapidly because investors expected future internet growth to justify high valuations. The Nasdaq Composite became the leading measure of this enthusiasm.
The bubble began to deflate in 2000. The Nasdaq peaked on March 10, 2000, and then fell dramatically over the following two years. Numerous internet companies failed, while surviving technology businesses faced reduced investment and stricter scrutiny of their finances.
The Dot-com crash is sometimes confused with the 2001 recession or with the later housing-related financial crisis. Those events were separate, although the technology collapse contributed to economic weakness. The Nasdaq’s decline was especially severe because the index was heavily weighted toward technology and internet shares.