46 Corporate Scandals Trivia Questions with Answers
46 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
Corporate scandal trivia covers fraud, regulatory failures, environmental disasters, misleading business practices, and the public consequences of corporate misconduct. The questions revisit major cases such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Ford Pinto fuel-tank controversy, the Bhopal gas tragedy, and the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis.
The collection also examines scandals across banking, energy, insurance, food, and investment markets. Players may need to connect Barclays with Libor manipulation, Nestlé with the infant-formula boycott, Enron with Project Alpha, or AIG with its massive 2008 bailout. These questions suit business and economics classrooms, ethics discussions, current-affairs quizzes, documentary fans, pub quizzes, and serious game nights.
Which investment bank filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2008?
Answer
Lehman Brothers
Which insurance company received an $85 billion bailout from the Federal Reserve in 2008?
Answer
American International Group (AIG)
Which biotechnology company's CEO was convicted of insider trading in 2003?
Answer
ImClone Systems
Which bank lost over $6 billion in 2012 due to the 'London Whale' trading scandal?
Answer
JPMorgan Chase
How much did BP agree to pay in 2015 for the Deepwater Horizon settlement?
Answer
$20.8 billion
What term describes the software used by Volkswagen to cheat emissions tests?
Answer
defeat device
Which firm lost $440 million in 30 minutes due to a software error in 2012?
Answer
Knight Capital
Who was the CFO of Enron convicted of fraud in 2004?
Answer
Andrew Fastow
How many records were exposed in the 2017 Equifax data breach?
Answer
147 million
Who was the whistleblower who exposed the Cambridge Analytica scandal?
Answer
Christopher Wylie
Which Chinese coffee chain admitted to fabricating sales in 2020?
Answer
Luckin Coffee
Who was the CEO of Wirecard arrested for fraud in 2020?
Answer
Markus Braun
Which accounting firm was convicted in 2002 for its role in Enron's collapse?
Answer
Arthur Andersen
Who was the CEO of WorldCom convicted of accounting fraud?
Answer
Bernie Ebbers
Which bank was fined for opening millions of unauthorized customer accounts?
Answer
Wells Fargo
Which automaker admitted to cheating on diesel emissions tests in 2015?
Answer
Volkswagen
What is the name of the Theranos founder convicted of fraud?
Answer
Elizabeth Holmes
Who orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in history?
Answer
Bernie Madoff
Corporate Scandals trivia — quick answers
What are good corporate scandal trivia questions?
Good corporate scandal trivia questions ask players to identify companies, industries, misconduct, dates, and consequences. Examples include naming the bank fined for Libor manipulation, identifying the company behind the Exxon Valdez spill, and connecting the Bhopal disaster with Union Carbide.
How hard is corporate scandal trivia?
Corporate scandal trivia is generally moderately to highly difficult because it spans business history, law, finance, environmental issues, and ethics. Famous cases may be familiar, but questions about specific schemes, fines, bailouts, or corporate responsibilities require careful knowledge of the events.
Which bank was fined for manipulating Libor in 2012?
Barclays was fined in 2012 for misconduct involving the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor. The benchmark influenced borrowing costs and financial contracts worldwide. The case became one of the most prominent episodes in a broader market-manipulation scandal involving several banks and traders.
What caused the Bhopal gas tragedy?
The Bhopal gas tragedy occurred in December 1984 at a Union Carbide India pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. Water entered a storage tank containing methyl isocyanate, triggering a runaway chemical reaction and the release of toxic gas. Thousands died in the immediate disaster, and many more suffered lasting health effects.
Which company was responsible for the Exxon Valdez oil spill?
Exxon Corporation owned the tanker Exxon Valdez, which ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in March 1989. The accident released millions of gallons of crude oil into the surrounding waters, causing extensive ecological damage. The spill prompted major public scrutiny and contributed to changes in U.S. oil-spill regulation.