Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy filing is widely regarded as the key trigger of the 2008 global financial crisis. The investment bank filed for Chapter 11 protection on September 15, 2008, after suffering enormous losses connected to mortgage-related assets and failing to secure a buyer or government-backed rescue.
Lehman was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history at that time. Its failure shocked financial markets because Lehman was deeply connected to banks, investment funds, and the global credit system. Short-term lending seized up, stock markets fell, and governments began emergency interventions to prevent further institutional failures.
The crisis had begun before Lehman’s collapse. The housing boom, subprime mortgage defaults, complex securitized products, excessive leverage, and weak risk management had already destabilized the financial system. Bear Stearns had failed earlier in 2008, but Lehman’s bankruptcy became the defining event associated with the crisis’s sharp escalation. The U.S. government later supported the rescue of insurer AIG and approved the Troubled Asset Relief Program.