Which investment company’s collapse in 2008 became the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history?

Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008 became the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008. The filing listed more than $600 billion in assets, making it vastly larger than earlier U.S. corporate bankruptcies. Its failure became a defining shock of the global financial crisis.

The firm had built substantial exposure to mortgages and mortgage-related securities. As the U.S. housing market weakened, those assets lost value, while investors and counterparties became increasingly concerned about Lehman’s ability to meet its obligations.

The bankruptcy intensified an already severe market sell-off and froze parts of the global credit system. Barclays acquired much of Lehman’s North American investment-banking operation, while Nomura acquired major businesses in Europe and Asia. A common misconception is that Lehman alone caused the crisis; its failure was instead a major escalation within a broader housing and credit collapse.