General Motors dominated the global auto industry for most of the 20th century, but by the 2000s it was weighed down by enormous pension and healthcare obligations to retirees, shrinking market share against foreign competitors, and a lineup of large vehicles increasingly out of step with buyer demand.
The 2008 financial crisis crushed already-declining auto sales, and GM ran out of cash. On June 1, 2009, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $82 billion in assets — one of the largest industrial bankruptcies in history — surviving only through a $50 billion bailout from the U.S. government, which took a 61% ownership stake.
GM emerged from bankruptcy after just 40 days, shedding brands like Pontiac, Saturn, and Hummer along the way. The U.S. government sold its remaining shares by 2013 at an overall loss to taxpayers of roughly $11 billion, and well over 100,000 GM-related jobs had been lost in the years surrounding the collapse.
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