The arrival of the internet in the mid-1990s set off an investment boom as techies and entrepreneurs tried to work out what the “World Wide Web” could do — and how to make it turn a profit. Investors, afraid of missing out on a technological revolution, were willing to provide almost unlimited capital.
This led to some companies that have prospered to this day — and others that floated on a raft of cheap money without any clear route to profit, or even a well-defined business model. It was also the era of the so-called “burger company,” born to be flipped to a larger firm.
It all started falling apart 25 years ago this month, when the dot-com bubble was followed by the dot-com burst and crash of 2000. The Nasdaq Composite index peaked at 5,048.62 on March 10 of that year, more than double its value from just a year earlier. Within weeks of that high, the index began its fall, with a mix of factors spooking investors. Eventually, the Nasdaq shed more than 75% of its value, wiping out $5 trillion in market capitalization.
Some firms were caught by the falling tide and simply went bankrupt after running out of money. Others were bought by other companies or struggled on for a few years before succumbing. A few giants took a hit but bounced back, while others never fully regained their former glory.
Check out who died, who survived, and who eventually thrived.
