American finance history is replete with events that sent terror waves throughout the country and through the economy in general. These scandals brought to light the problem of greed, lax oversight, and unethical financial practices behind a seemingly respectable public profile, from the big fish of Wall Street to the downfall of businesses and corporations. They may have lost billion dollar businesses or put public confidence in banks, corporations and the firms that invest and manage money to the test. But many of those disasters have also spurred the government to tighten regulations and enforcement.
Enron Collapse
Until 2001, Enron seemed unbeatable until its debts and overpriced profits were uncovered. That was an example of executives doing some playing with the numbers, and employees and investors losing billions of dollars in one night.
Lehman Brothers Crash
With the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the 2008 financial crisis, the world was struck with a profound shock. The Financial Emergency Management Corporation has left the bank giant bankrupt, and worsened the recession with riskier mortgage investments and debts that were taken out without proper control.
Bernie Madoff Fraud
Bernie Madoff was the perpetrator of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. The man’s reputation had long been trusted by investors, and for years he had been believed to come from one of the foreign investment firms that fraudulently accused him of running a massive scheme to steal almost $65 billion.
WorldCom Deception
WorldCom cooked the books to make them look healthy financially. This truth was revealed in 2002, resulting in a company collapse and thousands of job losses.
Savings and Loan Crisis
The risky lending and weak supervision policies of the 1980s led to hundreds of the savings institutions closing. The tax payers had to bear huge losses which cost the Government of India billions.
Tyco Executive Abuse
Senior officials at Tyco International financed fancy homes, artwork and lavish parties with Tyco funds. The scandal exposed the danger of corporate power running amok and going bad.
Wells Fargo Fake Accounts
The employees of Wells Fargo unknowingly exposed uncountable numbers of bogus customers to fill sales quotas.Wells Fargo workers opened millions of unauthorized customer accounts to meet sales goals.
Theranos Breakdown
Theranos vowed to revolutionary blood-testing technology that never materialized. Founds Elizabeth Holmes is a poster child for Silicon Valley hype and deception.
LIBOR Manipulation
Large institutions such as global banks were charged that they manipulated LIBOR for their own profit. Loans, mortgages and financial contracts were involved in the scandal throughout the world.
FTX Bankruptcy
FTX’s fall rocked the crypto market in 2022. Customers found billions of missing cash while founder Sam Bankman-Fried was accused of fraud based on risky financial moves.
