Allen Stanford's $7B Ponzi scheme — 110 years, 28,000 victims
Stanford Financial sold CDs that promised safe, above-market returns. It was a Ponzi scheme that took $7B from 28,000 investors in 131 countries.
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3,222 CAS PUBLIÉS · MIS À JOUR RÉGULIÈREMENTPat McGrath Labs was a $1B unicorn that had never built a business — Chapter 11 followed
The world's most famous makeup artist built a billion-dollar brand on artistry alone. When the founder moved on, the business underneath was never there.
Lire le casLesara, the German 'agile retail' startup, filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after scandal
A Berlin online fashion retailer raised millions on a big-data pitch, but padded revenue by ignoring returns and collapsed in November 2018.
Lire le casHooker Chemical buried 21,000 tons of toxic waste — then sold the land for $1
Hooker Chemical dumped 21,000 tons of toxic waste at Love Canal, sold the land to a school board, and triggered a $400M cleanup and the Superfund law.
Lire le casHancom Group bought a jewelry company for an NFT pivot — dissolved it three years later
Hancom Group acquired Hancom Jewelry in 2021 to build a gem-based NFT platform. By 2025 the NFT market had collapsed and the company was liquidated.
Lire le casPequignet, French watchmaker, spent itself almost bankrupt creating an in-house movement
The independent French watchmaker invested everything in its Calibre Royal movement. By 2012 it was almost bankrupt and had to be rescued by private investors.
Lire le casLush quit Instagram and Facebook — it cost £10M and the company crept back to social
Lush shut down its Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok accounts in 2021. The CEO said it was worth losing £10M. By 2023, Lush was quietly back.
Lire le casAvandia caused 83,000 extra heart attacks — GSK hid the data and paid $3B
GSK's diabetes drug Avandia increased heart attack risk by 30%. Estimated 83,000 extra heart attacks before the data was hidden, and GSK paid $3B to settle.
Lire le casSans Soucis, German cosmetics brand since 1956, filed for self-administration in 2026
A 70-year-old German skincare and cosmetics brand, owned by BCG Baden-Baden, filed for insolvency in March 2026 after years of losses.
Lire le casSephora tested Taiwan with an online-only launch — 18 months later it shut down
LVMH's Sephora launched in Taiwan as an online-only store in Oct 2021. By May 2023, the app and website were gone. It was Sephora's second Asian exit.
Lire le casAllbirds went from $4.2B to $39M — the DTC shoe brand that never made money
Allbirds was valued at $4.2B, but never turned a profit. It sold for $39M in 2026, closing all US stores after failed expansions.
Lire le casTaiwan's Bi-Ang faked 'Made in USA' labels on skincare for 8 years — NT$1.3B in sales
The DERM iNSTITUTE distributor switched to local manufacturing in 2015 but kept the import labels. Taipei prosecutors indicted the CEO in 2026.
Lire le casBiogen pushed aducanumab past a 10-1 FDA panel rejection — three panelists resigned
Biogen won approval after an FDA panel voted 10-1 against aducanumab. Three panelists resigned. The drug reached 100 patients; $3.3B spent before it dropped.
Lire le casChery sent an SUV up 999 scenic steps — it slid back into the guardrail
A Fengyun X3L commercial shoot at Tianmen Mountain ended with the SUV sliding backward, damaging a guardrail and prompting an apology.
Lire le casChina Medical Technologies stole $400M from investors — then vanished
A Chinese medical tech firm raised $677M from investors — then its CEO stole $400M. His wife gambled $62M in Vegas. The company vanished in 2012.
Lire le casThe Container Store organized homes but couldn't organize its own finances
The Container Store filed Chapter 11 in 2024, emerged, then sold to Bed Bath & Beyond for $150M — a fraction of its peak value.
Lire le casCotti Coffee's square logo was meant to signal quality — customers saw confusion
Cotti replaced its round @-logo with a square design to shed its discount image. The internet called it ugly and the brand lost the narrative.
Lire le casCrabtree & Evelyn went from 126 US stores to an online-only shell
Crabtree & Evelyn grew from a Massachusetts soap shop to 126 US stores. A 2009 Chapter 11 and two ownership changes later, the stores were gone.
Lire le casCVC Brasil inflated profits to meet bonus targets — then the stock fell 94%
CVC Brasil manipulated accounts between 2015 and 2019 to meet EBITDA targets for executive bonuses. The CVM accused the CEO of negligence in December 2025.
Lire le casEskom was built to power South Africa — then corruption and debt broke it
South Africa’s power utility ran up R419B in debt, lost billions to Gupta-linked corruption, and plunged the country into years of rolling blackouts.
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