Which company became the focus of England's 1720 South Sea Bubble crash?

The South Sea Company became the focus of England’s 1720 South Sea Bubble crash.

Founded in 1711, the company received a monopoly over British trade with Spanish South America in exchange for taking on government debt. Its shares soared in 1720 as political influence, promotional claims, and speculative enthusiasm attracted investors who expected enormous profits.

The company’s actual trading prospects were far smaller than many buyers imagined. When confidence broke, the share price collapsed, ruining investors and damaging public trust in financial promoters and politicians. Isaac Newton, who had invested, reportedly remarked that he could calculate the motions of heavenly bodies but not the madness of people.

The South Sea Bubble was part of a broader speculative episode. France’s Mississippi Bubble collapsed around the same time, and both events helped shape later debates about corporate disclosure, financial regulation, and speculative manias.