60 Famous Bankruptcies Trivia Questions with Answers

60 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018 after years of declining sales and heavy debt?

Answer

Sears Holdings

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which animation studio founded by Walt Disney filed for bankruptcy in 1923 after producing the Alice Comedies?

Answer

Laugh-O-Gram Studio

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American pizza restaurant chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2011?

Answer

Sbarro

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which Atlantic City casino, opened by Donald Trump in 1990, filed for bankruptcy in 1991?

Answer

Trump Taj Mahal

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which instant-camera company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2001?

Answer

Polaroid

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which space company founded by Richard Branson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2023?

Answer

Virgin Orbit

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American home-goods retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2008?

Answer

The Sharper Image

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American insurance company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2002 after rapid expansion through acquisitions?

Answer

Conseco

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which British department-store chain entered administration in 2020 after more than 140 years in business?

Answer

Debenhams

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which cryptocurrency lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022 after freezing customer withdrawals?

Answer

Celsius Network

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which German airline filed for insolvency in August 2017 and ceased operations two months later?

Answer

Air Berlin

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which Japanese airline filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2010 and later rebuilt under state-backed management?

Answer

Japan Airlines

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American amusement-park operator filed for bankruptcy in 2009 during the global financial crisis?

Answer

Six Flags

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American airline filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and later merged with Continental Airlines?

Answer

United Airlines

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which U.S. telecommunications company filed for bankruptcy in 2002 after an accounting scandal involving billions of dollars?

Answer

WorldCom

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American coworking company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 after expanding globally?

Answer

WeWork

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American cosmetics company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022 after carrying billions of dollars in debt?

Answer

Revlon

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American electronics retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2015 after operating thousands of RadioShack stores?

Answer

RadioShack

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after operating the Bed Bath & Beyond and Buy Buy Baby chains?

Answer

Bed Bath & Beyond

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2009 before becoming part of Fiat Chrysler?

Answer

Chrysler

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which luxury department-store chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2019?

Answer

Barneys New York

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

In what year did Atari, Inc. file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States?

Answer

2013

Hard Hard difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which financial-services company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 1, 2009, during the global financial crisis?

Answer

CIT Group

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2011 before merging with US Airways?

Answer

American Airlines

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American music retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2004 as digital music and online shopping weakened its business?

Answer

Tower Records

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which online grocery-delivery company filed for bankruptcy in July 2001 after expanding aggressively during the dot-com boom?

Answer

Webvan

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American discount retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2002 after expanding rapidly in the 1990s?

Answer

Kmart

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American snack-cake company filed for bankruptcy in 2012 before its famous brands returned under new ownership?

Answer

Hostess Brands

Hard Hard difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American energy company filed for bankruptcy in 1987, then became the largest U.S. bankruptcy at that time?

Answer

Texaco

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American investment bank filed for bankruptcy in 1990 after the collapse of the junk-bond market?

Answer

Drexel Burnham Lambert

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which U.S. city filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history in 2013?

Answer

Detroit

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005 and exited bankruptcy in 2007?

Answer

Delta Air Lines

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American steel producer filed for bankruptcy in 2001, then became one of the largest U.S. steel bankruptcies?

Answer

Bethlehem Steel

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American publisher filed for bankruptcy in 2011 after building a major magazine portfolio?

Answer

Reader’s Digest Association

Hard Hard difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American newspaper company filed for bankruptcy in 2008, owning the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times?

Answer

Tribune Company

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American comic-book publisher filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after a speculative boom in collectible comics?

Answer

Marvel Comics

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which Swiss airline filed for bankruptcy in 2002 after the collapse of its parent company SAirGroup?

Answer

Swissair

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American utility filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2019 after wildfires in California?

Answer

PG&E

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American film studio filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after allegations against co-founder Harvey Weinstein?

Answer

The Weinstein Company

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which U.S. electronics retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2008 after losing ground to online sellers?

Answer

Circuit City

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American department-store chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2020 after nearly 120 years in business?

Answer

JCPenney

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which commodities broker filed for bankruptcy in 2011 after a $6.3 billion unauthorized trading loss?

Answer

MF Global

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which video-rental company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2010 after streaming changed its business?

Answer

Blockbuster

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which investment bank filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, becoming the largest U.S. bankruptcy at that time?

Answer

Lehman Brothers

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which U.S. car-rental company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 during the COVID-19 travel collapse?

Answer

Hertz

Hard Hard difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which Italian dairy company became Europe’s largest corporate bankruptcy after a massive accounting scandal in 2003?

Answer

Parmalat

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American photography company filed for bankruptcy in 2012 after inventing the first digital camera prototype?

Answer

Kodak

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which Canadian technology company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 after becoming a major maker of telecommunications equipment?

Answer

Nortel

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American bookstore chain filed for bankruptcy in 2011 before closing all of its stores?

Answer

Borders

Easy Easy difficulty.
Famous Bankruptcies

Which American toy retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and closed its remaining U.S. stores the following year?

Answer

Toys “R” Us