Lehman Brothers failed in September 2008, becoming the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and intensifying the global financial crash.
The investment bank filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008. Its filing listed approximately $639 billion in assets and $619 billion in debt, making the collapse enormous by historical standards.
Lehman had been heavily exposed to mortgages and mortgage-related securities. When U.S. housing prices fell and defaults rose, confidence in banks’ balance sheets deteriorated. Lehman’s failure froze credit markets and contributed to severe stock-market declines worldwide.
Bear Stearns had already been rescued in March 2008, while Washington Mutual failed later that month. Lehman’s bankruptcy is therefore a key marker of the crisis, but it was not the only major institutional failure.