The dot-com crash followed the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2000.
During the late 1990s, investors poured money into internet-related companies, often rewarding rapid user growth while giving little attention to profits, cash flow, or sustainable business models. The Nasdaq Composite, heavily weighted toward technology shares, became a central measure of this enthusiasm.
The Nasdaq reached an intraday peak of 5,132.52 on March 10, 2000. After the bubble burst, technology stocks declined sharply, and many internet companies closed or entered bankruptcy. The downturn lasted beyond a single trading day and affected venture capital, telecommunications, advertising, and employment in the technology sector.
The crash is not the same as the 2008 financial crisis, which centered on housing finance and banking. Nor did every internet company fail: firms such as Amazon and eBay survived and later grew. The lasting lesson was that a promising technology does not automatically make every related stock valuable.