Crisis Replay
Lehman Brothers CollapseEXTREME
Sep 2008 – Mar 2009
$639BLehman assets
$700BTARP size
$182BAIG bailout
~140Events
BankruptcyContagionLiquidity CrisisSystemic

The largest bankruptcy in US history. $639 billion in assets. Zero warning. The day the global financial system froze.

Lehman Brothers Collapse

Tick 0 / 1800 / 12 events

Speed
090180
market shock
institution failure
regulatory action
liquidity event
confidence shift
intervention

What Happened

Bear Stearns collapses. Fannie and Freddie nationalized. Then — on September 15, 2008 — Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11. The Fed does not intervene. Interbank lending seizes overnight. AIG requires a $182B bailout. Congress eventually passes TARP at $700B. The cascade nearly destroys the global financial system.

Key Institutions

Lehman BrothersAIGBear StearnsMerrill LynchCitigroupFederal Reserve

Timeline Events (12)