The dot-com bubble burst in 2000 after the Nasdaq Composite peaked at 5,048.62 on March 10.
The bubble centered on internet and technology companies, many of which attracted huge valuations despite little or no profit. Investors believed rapid online expansion would justify extraordinary prices. Venture capital funded thousands of startups, while initial public offerings sometimes surged immediately after listing.
The Nasdaq reached its record closing level in March 2000. As investors began demanding evidence of sustainable earnings, technology shares fell sharply. The downturn intensified through 2000 and 2001, wiping out trillions of dollars in market value and causing many internet companies to fail.
The crash did not prove that the internet lacked economic value. Companies such as Amazon survived the collapse and later became major businesses, while the technology itself continued to spread. A common mistake is to use “dot-com crash” for the 1990s boom; the crash refers to the collapse after the 2000 peak, while the bubble describes the preceding period of speculation.