The stock-market crash that began in March 2000 as investors abandoned highly valued internet and technology companies was the dot-com crash.
The late-1990s dot-com bubble pushed shares of internet and technology businesses to extraordinary valuations. Many companies had little revenue or no profit, yet investors expected rapid growth and treated website traffic or future potential as evidence of value. Venture capital and public listings supplied abundant funding.
The Nasdaq Composite reached a peak on March 10, 2000. After sentiment changed, technology shares fell sharply, and numerous internet companies failed or were acquired. The decline continued well beyond the initial peak, with the Nasdaq eventually losing most of its value from that high.
The crash did not mean every technology company was unsound. Firms such as Amazon and eBay survived and later grew substantially. The key distinction is between the collapse of speculative valuations and the longer-term development of the internet economy.