Sharp lost ¥376B on LCDs — Foxconn bought control for $3.5B in 2016
Sharp bet on LCD panels and lost ¥376B. Foxconn bought 66% control for $3.5B — half its original offer.
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3,222 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDViagra: the failed heart drug that became a blockbuster
Pfizer tested sildenafil as an angina treatment in Wales. It did nothing for chest pain. The side effect made it the fastest-selling drug in history.
Read the caseSYCA, Indonesian beauty brand, closes after five years
A Jakarta cosmetics brand that went viral with an Emily in Paris collab closed in 2024, unable to compete with Chinese brands spending 30-40% of revenue on ads.
Read the caseMackmyra, Sweden's pioneering whisky distillery, collapses
Sweden's first whisky distillery filed for bankruptcy in August 2024 after the bank cut its credit line, capping a 25-year run as the pioneer of Swedish whisky.
Read the caseRevo Hospitality, Europe's largest white-label hotel operator, collapses
The former HR Group grew from 50 to 250 hotels in five years, then filed for insolvency in January 2026 after rapid expansion and rising costs caught up.
Read the caseGermany's Hofbrauhaus Wolters filed for bankruptcy after 399 years as beer sales collapsed
Germany's oldest brewery by continuous operation filed for insolvency in 2026. German beer sales hit a record low of 7.8B litres in 2025, down 6% year-on-year.
Read the caseSnacky, a Finnish fast-food chain, was bankrupted by its owner's embezzlement
Snacky was a Finnish hamburger chain revived in 2007, but its owner stole €1.7M from the company, leading to bankruptcy in 2016.
Read the casePNJ's gem lab certified smuggled diamonds — $293M wiped off Vietnam's top jeweller
Police broke up a ring that smuggled 28,000 diamonds into Vietnam. PNJ's gem-testing unit had certified them. Shares fell 20%, erasing $293M.
Read the caseEichbaum, one of Germany's oldest breweries, collapsed in 2025 after exports failed
Eichbaum was founded in 1679 in Mannheim and survived 346 years, but filed for insolvency in 2025 after its private-label export business collapsed.
Read the caseAmerican Apparel was the 'Made in USA' fashion icon — then scandals and debt sank it
American Apparel made all its clothes in LA. But founder scandals, 1,500 fired workers, and debt drove it to bankruptcy in 2015.
Read the caseDe Grisogono, a Swiss watch brand, was bankrupted by the Luanda Leaks corruption scandal
Geneva watch brand De Grisogono filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after the Luanda Leaks revealed its $120M Angola investment was a money-laundering scheme.
Read the caseFrontier Developments lost a fifth of its value after a failed diversification push
A UK studio tried to grow beyond its creative-management niche. Its publishing label failed and a Warhammer game flopped, wiping 20% of its share price.
Read the caseBlitz Games, a UK studio behind SpongeBob and Bratz titles, collapsed in 2013
Blitz Games was one of the UK's longest-running game developers for 23 years, but closed in 2013 after THQ's bankruptcy left it without its biggest client.
Read the caseCryo Interactive, French game pioneer behind Dune, collapsed and was liquidated in 2002
Cryo was one of France's first major game studios, famous for Dune and Atlantis, but filed for insolvency in 2002 after a flop and a recession.
Read the caseHanjin Shipping was the 7th largest carrier — then bankruptcy left ships stranded at sea
Hanjin Shipping was Korea's largest container line. It overexpanded, hit $10.5B in debt, and filed for bankruptcy in 2016 — leaving ships stranded at sea.
Read the caseAhold overstated profits by $1.1B — and lost two-thirds of its market value
Ahold's US Foodservice arm booked vendor rebates it had not earned, inflating profits by about $1.1 billion. The 2003 disclosure toppled the CEO and CFO.
Read the caseAlstom paid $772M in US fines — then sold its crown jewels to GE
The French industrial giant was fined $772 million for overseas bribes. The fine broke the company; its energy division was sold to GE for €12.4 billion.
Read the caseAmyris built a dozen beauty brands at once — then ran out of money to keep them
Amyris bet on building a portfolio of beauty brands — Biossance, Pipette, JVN and more. Never profitable, the company filed for Chapter 11 in 2023.
Read the caseBell Pottinger took a South African client — and UK's top PR firm went bankrupt in 2017
Bell Pottinger was the UK's top PR firm. It took a £100K/mo account from Gupta family, ran a racial manipulation campaign, and was bankrupt within 18 months.
Read the caseBordeaux invented 'en primeur' to sell wine before it existed — and speculation broke it
En primeur lets buyers purchase Bordeaux wine while it is still in the barrel. It was invented to fund the harvest. In 2008, speculation turned it into a bubble
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