Dead
Gone. No operations, no brand in active use. Just a Wikipedia page and a trademark gathering dust.
22 companies
Bed Bath & Beyond
Dead1971–2023 · Retail
The 20% off coupon was the only thing keeping people in the store. Then they stopped sending coupons.
Theranos
Dead2003–2018 · Healthcare
A $9 billion company whose product was a PowerPoint deck.
Borders Group
Dead1971–2011 · Retail
Outsourced its online business to Amazon, then wondered why nobody came to the store.
MySpace
Dead2003–2011 · Technology
The first social network everyone joined. The first social network everyone left.
Blockbuster
Dead1985–2010 · Entertainment
Had the chance to buy Netflix for $50 million and laughed them out of the room.
Pontiac
Dead1926–2010 · Automotive
The GTO. The Firebird. The Trans Am. Killed by the company that made them.
Sun Microsystems
Dead1982–2010 · Technology
The network is the computer. Until Oracle bought the computer.
Circuit City
Dead1949–2009 · Retail
Fired its best salespeople to save money, then had nobody left who could sell anything.
Lehman Brothers
Dead1847–2008 · Finance
Survived the Civil War, two World Wars, and the Great Depression. Didn't survive mortgage-backed securities.
Washington Mutual
Dead1889–2008 · Finance
The largest bank failure in American history. $307 billion in assets, gone in 10 days.
Tower Records
Dead1960–2006 · Retail
No building was tall enough to see Napster coming.
Chi-Chi's
Dead1975–2004 · Restaurants
Killed by lettuce.
Netscape Communications
Dead1994–2003 · Technology
Won the browser. Lost the war. Microsoft killed it with a free product and a bundling strategy.
Arthur Andersen
Dead1913–2002 · Accounting
Killed not by its own fraud, but by someone else's. The collateral damage of Enron.
Compaq
Dead1982–2002 · Technology
Built the PC industry, then got absorbed by the company it once outsold.
Enron
Dead1985–2001 · Energy
The company that made 'cooking the books' a household phrase.
Montgomery Ward
Dead1872–2001 · Retail
Invented the mail-order catalog. Couldn't invent a reason to keep existing.
F. W. Woolworth Company
Dead1879–1997 · Retail
Invented the five-and-dime. Couldn't survive the dollar store.
Commodore International
Dead1954–1994 · Technology
Built the best-selling personal computer in history. Couldn't figure out what to do next.
Eastern Air Lines
Dead1926–1991 · Aviation
A labor dispute that killed an airline and proved that management and unions can both be right and both lose.
Pan American World Airways
Dead1927–1991 · Aviation
The airline that made the world feel small, then couldn't survive in the world it created.
DeLorean Motor Company
Dead1975–1982 · Automotive
The car, the cocaine, the movie. Only one of those worked out.