Bernie Madoff’s clients believed they held about $65 billion — the number printed on their statements. Almost none of it was real: he ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history, and in 2009 was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
When Enron collapsed into bankruptcy in December 2001, it took its auditor down with it: Arthur Andersen, one of the world’s five largest accounting firms, was convicted of obstruction and effectively ceased to exist — even though the Supreme Court later overturned the conviction.
Wirecard was a member of Germany’s blue-chip DAX index when it admitted in 2020 that €1.9 billion of cash on its books simply did not exist. The company collapsed within days, and its chief operating officer fled and remains a fugitive.