Lehman Brothers was the U.S. investment bank whose bankruptcy became a landmark moment in the 2008 global financial crash.
Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008. Its failure followed enormous exposure to mortgage-related securities and real-estate markets, combined with falling confidence and difficulty obtaining financing.
The bankruptcy was the largest in U.S. history at that time and intensified an already severe worldwide credit crisis. Banks, companies, and investors became more uncertain about the value of complex financial assets and the solvency of major counterparties.
Lehman was not the first major institution affected. Bear Stearns had been rescued in March 2008, while American International Group received government support shortly after Lehman’s failure. Lehman’s collapse is therefore best understood as a major escalation within the broader financial crisis, not its sole beginning.