Which British trading company became the central target of the South Sea Bubble crash of 1720?

The South Sea Company became the central target of the South Sea Bubble crash of 1720.

Founded in 1711, the company received a monopoly over British trade with Spanish South America in exchange for taking on part of the government’s debt. Its commercial prospects were greatly exaggerated, even though the War of the Spanish Succession restricted the trade it could actually conduct.

In 1720, a plan converted government debt into company shares and encouraged a spectacular rise in the stock price. Promoters, insiders, and imitators attracted investors with claims of enormous profits. When confidence failed, the share price collapsed and ruined many holders.

The episode was part of a wider European speculative crisis. France’s Mississippi Company, associated with John Law, also experienced a dramatic boom and collapse. The South Sea scandal led to parliamentary investigations and exposed corruption among company directors and public officials.