Which company’s collapse became a defining event of the 2008 global financial crisis?

Lehman Brothers’ collapse became a defining event of the 2008 global financial crisis.

The investment bank filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, after suffering enormous losses connected to the U.S. housing market and mortgage-backed securities. Its bankruptcy was the largest in U.S. history at that time, with more than $600 billion in assets listed.

Lehman’s failure intensified panic in credit and stock markets because it demonstrated that a major global financial institution could disappear abruptly. Banks became more reluctant to lend to one another, and governments subsequently introduced emergency measures to stabilize the financial system.

Bear Stearns had already required a rescue acquisition in March 2008, while Merrill Lynch was purchased by Bank of America in September. Those events are often grouped with Lehman’s collapse, but Lehman Brothers was the company that entered bankruptcy.