On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.

At the time of bankruptcy, the assets were US$639 billion and the liabilities were US$619 billion, which was the largest in history and almost 10 times that of Enron, which went bankrupt in 2001.

The timeline of Lehman Brothers' collapse is as follows: During the bubble period of 2003-2004, when the U.S. housing market was booming, Lehman Brothers acquired five home loan companies, many of which focused on low-quality loans at the Alt-A level.

The revenue of this business line grew rapidly in the next two to three years, and the growth rate exceeded other business lines such as investment banking and wealth management.

The real estate business line's net income in 2007 reached US$4.2 billion.

Missed the last opportunity In August 2007, the credit crisis broke out.

Two Bear Stearns-owned hedge funds closed, and Lehman shares plummeted.

In the same month, Lehman laid off 2,500 employees.

Lehman had accumulated $85 billion in mortgage assets at the time, four times the bank's equity, and the entire bank's leverage ratio was 31.

Whether it was luck or misfortune, there was a rebound in mortgage loans at the end of 2007, which also led to a rebound in Lehman's stock price.

Looking back at the rebound at that time afterwards, it can be said that it was Lehman's last chance to withdraw.

Destruction In March 2008, Bear Stearns was nearly bankrupt. JPMorgan purchased Bear Stearns for $10 a share, which had been worth $133 a share a year ago.

Lehman Brothers was thought to be following in the footsteps of Bear Stearns, and its stock was cut in half.

In June 2008, Lehman announced a loss of US$2.8 billion in the second quarter and claimed that it had a liquid asset pool of US$45 billion. It had reduced its mortgage exposure by 20% and its leverage ratio dropped from 32 to 25. In the first week of September 2008,

Lehman stock fell 77%.

On September 9, Lehman management asked the Korea Development Bank for help to no avail.

On September 10, Lehman announced its third-quarter financial results, with a loss of 3.9 billion. On the same day, Moody's announced that it would adjust its rating on Lehman. On September 11, the stock fell 42%. On September 13, Lehman had only

1 billion in cash, seeking help from Barclays and Bank of America to no avail. On Monday, September 15, Lehman declared bankruptcy.

Lehman's credit rating at the time of bankruptcy was A2, which was a very high rating.

A company declaring bankruptcy when it is rated A2 is a dark history for the rating company.

For comparison, NIKE today is rated A1 and Nvidia is only Baa1.