The following contains a list of trading losses of the equivalent of US$100 million or higher. Trading losses are the amount of principal losses in an account.[1] Because of the secretive nature of many hedge funds and fund managers, some notable losses may never be reported to the public. The list is ordered by the real amount lost, starting with the greatest.
This list includes both fraudulent and non-fraudulent losses, but excludes those associated with Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme (estimated in the $50 billion range) as Madoff did not lose most of this money in trading.
Nominal amount lost | USD FX rate[2] | USD equivalent | USD inflation to 2007[3] | 2007 USD amount lost | Country | Company | Source of loss | Year | Person(s) associated with incident | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
at time of loss | ||||||||||
USD 10 bn | 1 | USD 10 bn | -19.4% | USD 8.06 bn | Archegos Capital Management[4] | Total return swaps | 2021 | Bill Hwang | ||
USD 9 bn | 1 | USD 9 bn | −3.7% | USD 8.67 bn | Morgan Stanley[5] | Credit Default Swaps | 2008 | |||
USD 9 bn | 1 | USD 9 bn | −7.0% | USD 8.37 bn | JPMorgan Chase[6] | Credit Default Swaps | 2012 | |||
USD 8 bn | 1 | USD 8 bn | −12.3% | USD 7.01 bn | Tsingshan Holding Group[7] | Short positions on nickel | 2022 | |||
USD 6.12 (EUR 4.9) bn | 0.679 | USD 7.22 bn | −3.7% | USD 6.95 bn | Société Générale[8] | European Index Futures | 2008 | |||
USD 6.5 bn | 1 | USD 6.50 bn | 2.8% | USD 6.69 bn | Amaranth Advisors[9] | Gas Futures | 2006 | |||
USD 4.6 bn | 1 | USD 4.6 bn | 27.2% | USD 5.85 bn | Long Term Capital Management[10] | Bond Arbitrage | 1998 | |||
EUR 4 bn | USD 4 bn | PFZW[11] | Oil futures | 2020 | ||||||
USD 4.5 bn | 1 | USD 4.5 bn | -19.4% | USD 3.6 bn | Melvin Capital[12] | Short positions on Gamestop and other US equities | 2021 | Gabe Plotkin | ||
USD 4.1 bn | 1 | USD 4.1 bn | -14.9% | USD 3.49 bn | Pershing Square[13] | Valeant Pharmaceuticals | 2015-2017 | |||
JPY 285 bn | 108.78 | USD 2.62 bn | 32.1% | USD 3.46 bn | Sumitomo Corporation[14] | Copper Futures | 1996 | |||
USD 3 bn | Three Arrows Capital | Cryptocurrency | 2022 | Kyle Davies & Su Zhu | ||||||
EUR 2.7 bn | 1 | USD 2.7 bn | −7.0% | USD 2.7 bn | Vestia[15] | Interest Rate Swaps, Swaptions | 2012 | |||
BRL 4.62 bn | 1.833 | USD 2.52 bn | −3.7% | USD 2.43 bn | Aracruz[16] [17] | FX Options | 2008 | , Rafael Sotero | ||
USD 2.4 bn | USD 2.4 bn | SemGroup[18] | Oil Futures | 2008 | ||||||
USD 1.7 bn[19] | 1 | USD 1.7 bn | 39.9% | USD 2.38 bn | Orange County[20] | Leveraged bond investments | 1994 | |||
DEM 2.63 bn | 1.655 | USD 1.59 bn | 43.5% | USD 2.28 bn | Metallgesellschaft[21] | Oil Futures | 1993 | [22] | ||
JPY 166 bn | 111.08 | USD 1.49 bn | 43.5% | USD 2.14 bn | Showa Shell Sekiyu[23] [24] | FX Forwards | 1993 | |||
JPY 153.6 bn | 102.18 | USD 1.50 bn | 39.9% | USD 2.09 bn | Kashima Oil | FX Forwards | 1994 | |||
USD 2 bn | USD 2 bn | Soros Fund Management[25] | Russian Equities | 1998 | ||||||
USD 2 bn | USD 2 bn | Tiger Management[26] | Shorting Japanese yen | 1998 | ||||||
USD 2 bn | 1 | USD 2 bn | −8.5% | USD 1.83 bn | UBS[27] | Equities ETF and Delta 1 | 2011 | |||
HKD 14.7 bn | 7.786 | USD 1.89 bn | −3.7% | USD 1.82 bn | CITIC Pacific[28] | Foreign Exchange Trading | 2008 | |||
GBP 827 mn | 0.633 | USD 1.31 bn | 36.1% | USD 1.78 bn | Barings Bank[29] | Nikkei Futures | 1995 | |||
RUB 78.5 bn | 38.98 | USD 2.01 bn | −12.6% | USD 1.76 bn | Transneft[30] [31] [32] [33] | Derivatives | 2014 | Maksim Grishanin, VP Finance | ||
USD 1.8 bn | 1 | USD 1.8 bn | −3.7% | USD 1.74 bn | Deutsche Bank[34] | Derivatives | 2008 | |||
USD 1.6 bn | USD 1.6 bn | Icahn Enterprises[35] | Hertz | 2020 | Carl Icahn | |||||
JPY 130 bn | USD 1.6 bn | AIJ Investment Advisors[36] | Volatility options | 2012 | Kazuhiko Asakawa | |||||
USD 1.75 (EUR 1.4) bn | 0.923 | USD 1.29 bn [37] | 20.4% | USD 1.56 bn | BAWAG[38] | Foreign Exchange Trading | 2000 | , Helmut Elsner | ||
USD 1.1 bn | 1 | USD 1.10 bn | 36.1% | USD 1.50 bn | Daiwa Bank[39] | Bonds | 1995 | |||
USD 0.80 bn | 1 | USD 0.80 bn | 82.5% | USD 1.46 bn | Soros Fund[40] | SP 500 Futures | 1987 | |||
USD 1 bn | 1 | USD 1 bn | 252.5% | USD 2.52 bn | Hunt Brothers | Silver | 1980 | , | ||
USD 0.94 (EUR 0.75) bn | 0.679 | USD 1.10 bn | −3.7% | USD 1.06 bn | Groupe Caisse d'Epargne[41] [42] | Derivatives | 2008 | |||
BRL 2 bn | 1.833 | USD 1.09 bn | −3.7% | USD 1.05 bn | Sadia[43] | FX and Credit Options | 2008 | , Álvaro Ballejo | ||
EUR 0.730 bn | USD 1 bn≈ | USD 1 bn≈ | Monte dei Paschi di Siena[44] | Synthetic CDOs Credit Default Swaps on Italian government bonds Equity swaps on Intesa Sanpaolo shares[45] | 2005-2009 | |||||
USD 1 bn | Saudi National Bank[46] | 2023 | ||||||||
GBP 0.4 bn | 0.611 | USD 0.66 bn | 29.2% | USD 0.85 bn | Morgan Grenfell[47] | Shares | 1997 | |||
USD 0.6 bn | 1 | USD 0.60 bn | 39.9% | USD 0.84 bn | Askin Capital Management[48] | Mortgage-Backed Securities | 1994 | |||
USD 0.75 (EUR 0.60) bn | 1.371 | USD 0.82 bn | 0.0 | USD 0.82 bn | WestLB[49] | Common and Preferred Shares | 2007 | [50] | ||
USD 0.69 bn | 1 | USD 0.69 bn | 15.3% | USD 0.80 bn | AIB/Allfirst[51] | Foreign Exchange Options | 2002 | |||
S$1.13 bn | USD 0.80 bn | Hin Leong Trading | Oil | 2020 | ||||||
DEM 0.47 bn | 2.587 | USD 0.18 bn | 320.6% | USD 0.76 bn | Herstatt Bank[52] [53] | Foreign Exchange Trading | 1974 | |||
USD 0.77 bn | USD 0.77 bn | Arkansas Teacher Retirement System[54] | volatility-trading fund | 2020 | ||||||
USD 0.68 bn | 0% | USD 0.68 bn | Unipec | Oil | 2018 | [55] [56] | ||||
USD 0.65 bn | Quantum Fund | Japanese Yen Shorting | 1994 | [57] | ||||||
CAD 0.68 bn | 1.066 | USD 0.64 bn | 0% | USD 0.64 bn | Bank of Montreal[58] [59] | Natural gas derivatives | 2007 | David Lee, Kevin Cassidy [60] [61] | ||
USD 0.6 bn | Quantum Fund | Short IT stocks during the internet bubble | 1999 | |||||||
USD 0.55 bn | 1 | USD 0.55 bn | 9.8% | USD 0.60 bn | China Aviation Oil (Singapore)[62] | Oil Futures and Options | 2004 | |||
USD 0.57 bn | COSCO Shipping[63] | Freight derivatives | 2008 | |||||||
CHF 0.63 bn | 1.451 | USD 0.43 bn | 27.2% | USD 0.55 bn | Union Bank of Switzerland[64] | Equity Derivatives | 1998 | |||
USD 0.52 bn | USD 0.52 bn | State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio[65] | Panda Power Funds | 2011-2021 | ||||||
EUR 0.48 bn | 1.08 | USD 0.519 bn | USD 0.35 bn | Électricité de France S.A.[66] | French electricity contracts | 2021 | ||||
USD 0.44 bn | 1 | USD 0.44 bn | 82.5% | USD 0.44 bn | Knight Capital Group | Equities | 2012 | |||
USD 0.28 bn | 1 | USD 0.28 bn | 82.5% | USD 0.51 bn | Merrill Lynch[67] | Mortgages (IOs and POs) Trading | 1987 | |||
USD 0.28 bn | 1 | USD 0.28 bn | 82.5% | USD 0.51 bn | State of West Virginia[68] | Fixed Income and Interest Rate Derivatives | 1987 | |||
USD 0.35 bn | 1 | USD 0.35 bn | 39.9% | USD 0.49 bn | Kidder Peabody[69] | Government Bonds | 1994 | |||
USD 0.4 bn | 1 | USD 0.40 bn | 20.4% | USD 0.48 bn | Manhattan Investment Fund[70] | Short IT stocks during the internet bubble | 2000 | Michael Berger | ||
USD 0.37 (EUR 0.30) bn | 1.244 | USD 0.37 bn | 9.8% | USD 0.41 bn | Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International[71] | Foreign Exchange Trading | 2004 | |||
1 | USD 0.4 bn | Pershing Square[72] | Netflix | 2022 | ||||||
USD 0.35 bn | 1 | USD 0.35 bn | 0.0% | USD 0.35 bn | Calyon[73] | Credit Derivatives | 2007 | |||
USD 0.36 bn | 1 | USD 0.36 bn | 0.0% | USD 0.36 bn | Petro-Diamond Singapore[74] [75] [76] | Oil derivatives | 2019 | Wang Xingchen, Jack[77] | ||
AUD 0.36 bn | 1.171 | USD 0.31 bn | 9.8% | USD 0.34 bn | National Australia Bank[78] | Foreign Exchange Trading | 2004 | , Gianni Gray, Vince Ficarra & David Bullen[79] | ||
JPY 28.6 bn | USD 0.34 bn | Tateho Chemical Industries | Bond futures | 1987 | ||||||
JPY 32 bn | USD 0.34 bn | Tokyo Securities | Bond futures | 1994 | ||||||
USD 0.078 bn | 1 | USD 0.078 bn | 320.4% | USD 0.328 bn | Lloyds Bank[80] | Foreign Exchange Trading | 1974 | Marc Colombo | ||
USD 0.37 (EUR 0.30) bn | 0.895 | USD 0.27 bn | 17.1% | USD 0.31 bn | Dexia Bank[81] | Corporate Bonds | 2001 | |||
USD 0.296 bn (EUR 0.26) bn | 1.11 | USD 0.296 bn | -1% | USD 0.296 bn | Natixis[82] | Equities Derivatives | 2018 | |||
USD 0.25 bn+ | 1 | USD 0.25 bn+ | Parplus Partners[83] | CBOE Volatility Index futures and options | 2020 | Jim Carney | ||||
USD 0.225 bn | 1 | USD 0.225 bn | 43.5% | USD 0.30 bn | FXCM[84] | Foreign exchange | 2015 | |||
USD 0.207 bn | 1 | USD 0.207 bn | 43.5% | USD 0.30 bn | Codelco[85] | Copper, silver, gold futures | 1993 | |||
EUR 0.160 | 1.1 | USD 0.176 bn | 0% | USD 0.176bn | BNP Paribas Arbitrage | Structured products | 2016 | Armin S.[86] | ||
JPY 11.5 bn | USD 0.28 bn | / | Fuji Bank New York Branch[87] | Foreign exchange trading | 1984 | |||||
USD 0.28 bn | Allied-Lyons[88] | FX derivatives | 1991 | |||||||
USD 0.28 bn | 1 | USD 0.28 bn | Raytheon Technologies Corporation[89] | volatility-trading fund | 2020 | |||||
JPY 9.7 bn | USD 0.24 bn | / | Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Singapore Branch | Foreign exchange trading | 1982 | Haruo Kanda | ||||
JPY 22.9 bn | USD 0.23 bn | Nanzan Gakuen[90] | Equity derivatives | 2008 | ||||||
USD 0.16 bn | 1 | USD 0.16 bn | 39.9% | USD 0.22 bn | Procter & Gamble[91] | Interest rate derivatives | 1994 | |||
USD 0.04 bn | 1 | USD 0.04 bn | 433.8% | USD 0.214 bn | United California Bank of Basel[92] | Cocoa futures | 1970 | |||
USD 0.2 bn | 1 | USD 0.20 bn | 6.2% | USD 0.21 bn | State Reserves Bureau Copper Scandal[93] | Copper Futures | 2005 | [94] | ||
HKD 1.38 bn | USD 0.17 bn | Chinese Estates[95] | Evergrande | 2021 | ||||||
GBP 0.09 bn | 0.611 | USD 0.15 bn | 29.2% | USD 0.19 bn | NatWest[96] | Interest Rate Options | 1997 | |||
USD 0.039 bn | 1 | USD 0.039 bn | 320.4% | USD 0.164 bn | Franklin National Bank[97] | Foreign Exchange Trading | 1974 | Peter Shaddick | ||
USD 0.11 bn | 1 | USD 0.11 bn | 39.9% | USD 0.15 bn | Cuyahoga County, Ohio[98] | Leveraged Fixed Income | 1994 | |||
JPY 15.4 bn | USD 0.15 bn | Komazawa Gakuen[99] | Currency Derivatives | 2008 | ||||||
SEK 1.23 bn | 7.804 | USD 0.15 bn | −4.8% | USD 0.143 bn | HQ Bank | Equity Derivatives | 2010 | , Mikael König, Patrik Enblad | ||
USD 0.15 bn | USD 0.15 bn | OptionSellers.com[100] | commodity trading | 2018 | James S. Cordier | |||||
JPY 13.9 bn | USD 0.14 bn | Nippon Steel Chemical | Bond futures | 1993 | ||||||
USD 0.14 bn | 1 | USD 0.14 bn | −3.7% | USD 0.13 bn | MF Global[101] | Wheat Futures | 2008 | |||
N/A | USD 0.13 bn | self-portfolio | Bitcoin | 2017-2018 | [102] | |||||
USD 0.120 bn | 1 | USD 0.12 bn | −3,7% | USD 0.12 bn | Morgan Stanley[103] | Credit-index options | 2008 | Matt Piper | ||
USD 0.12 (EUR 0.1) bn | 1 | USD 0.12 bn | −1% | USD 0.12 bn | Einar Aas[104] | Nordpool Power Derivatives | 2018 | Einar Aas | ||
JPY 11.9 bn | USD 0.12 bn | Nippon Sanso | Interest rate swap | 1995 | ||||||
USD 0.1 bn | 1 | USD 0.10 bn | 15.3% | USD 0.12 bn | Riječka banka (Rijeka Bank)[105] | Foreign Exchange Trading | 2002 | |||
HKD 1 bn | USD 0.12 bn | Blue River Holdings[106] | 2021 | |||||||
USD 0.11 bn | Berkshire Hathaway[107] | 2023 |