The Dot-com crash began after the technology-stock boom and accompanied the NASDAQ Composite’s 2000–2002 decline.
Internet companies attracted enormous investment in the late 1990s, even when many had little revenue or no profits. The NASDAQ Composite reached an intraday peak of 5,132.52 on March 10, 2000. As investors began demanding more realistic business results, technology shares fell sharply.
The decline continued for roughly two years. Many start-ups failed, venture funding dried up, and established technology companies also lost large portions of their market value. The September 11 attacks and a broader economic slowdown added to the difficult environment, but the crash was rooted in the unwinding of excessive expectations and valuations.
The terms “dot-com bubble” and “dot-com crash” are related but not identical: the bubble describes the boom, while the crash describes its collapse. Some internet businesses survived and later became major companies, showing that a useful technology can still be accompanied by unsustainable prices.