You think you lost a lot money? It always gets worse. Here are the worst trading losses ever recorded.
đź’¸ Top Historic Trading Losses
- Archegos Capital – ~$10 B loss (2021)
Bill Hwang’s family office imploded over massive total return swap positions, sparking forced liquidations. (Wikipedia) - Howie Hubler / Morgan Stanley – ~$9 B loss (2008)
One catastrophic credit-default swap trade became one of the largest single losses ever. (Wikipedia) - “London Whale” – ~$9 B loss (JPMorgan Chase, 2012)
Bruno Iksil’s complex derivatives bets went disastrously wrong. (Wikipedia) - Tsingshan Nickel Short – ~$8 B loss (2022)
A brutal short squeeze on nickel futures hammered positions. (Wikipedia) - Société Générale / Jérôme Kerviel – ~$7 B loss (2008)
Rogue trading uncovered massive unauthorized index futures bets. (Wikipedia) - Amaranth Advisors – ~$6.7 B loss (2006)
Energy market bets on gas futures collapsed. (Wikipedia) - Long Term Capital Management – ~$5.8 B loss (1998)
One of the most infamous hedge fund meltdowns due to risky fixed-income arbitrage. (Wikipedia)
⚠️ Also Notable (Still Huge)
- Melvin Capital – ~$4.6 B (2021) – Squeezed short positions during meme-stock mania. (Wikipedia)
- Sumitomo / Yasuo Hamanaka – ~$3.5 B (1996) – Unauthorized copper trading disaster. (Wikipedia)
- Three Arrows Capital – ~$3 B (2022) – Crypto collapse. (Wikipedia)
- Barings Bank / Nick Leeson – ~$1.3 B loss (1995) – Rogue trader that sank a 230-year-old bank. (Wikipedia)
- UBS / Kweku Adoboli – ~$1.8 B (2011) – Major rogue trading scandal. (Wikipedia)