Empires to Ashes

The incredible story of how Britain's oldest merchant bank, which financed the Napoleonic Wars and the Louisiana Purchase, was brought down by a single rogue trader in Singapore. Nick Leeson's unauthorized derivatives trading destroyed 233 years of banking history in a matter of weeks.

Once America's seventh-largest corporation, Enron's spectacular implosion became synonymous with corporate fraud. Discover how creative accounting, mark-to-market schemes and a culture of deception led to one of the biggest bankruptcies in U.S. history, wiping out $74 billion in shareholder value.

After surviving the Civil War, two World Wars and the Great Depression, Lehman Brothers couldn't survive the subprime mortgage crisis. The fourth-largest investment bank's collapse triggered the global financial crisis of 2008, sending shockwaves through markets worldwide.

British Home Stores was once a crown jewel of UK retail, but mismanagement and controversial ownership changes led to its demise. The story involves billionaire yachts, pension deficits and 11,000 lost jobs - a cautionary tale of how corporate greed can destroy a beloved institution.

Sam Bankman-Fried went from billionaire wunderkind to convicted felon in record time. FTX's collapse from a $32 billion valuation to bankruptcy in just days exposed massive fraud, misused customer funds and the dark side of cryptocurrency's promise of financial revolution.

For decades, Bernie Madoff ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding investors of billions while maintaining a facade of respectability as NASDAQ chairman. Discover how he fooled regulators, celebrities and charities until his house of cards finally collapsed in 2008.

The UK's second-largest construction company collapsed despite holding £5.5 billion in government contracts. Carillion's fall left hospitals half-built, schools unfinished and exposed the dangers of outsourcing critical infrastructure to debt-laden corporations chasing unsustainable growth.

Lex Greensill promised to revolutionize supply chain finance and counted former Prime Minister David Cameron as an advisor. But aggressive lending, questionable insurance practices and overexposure to risky clients led to a spectacular collapse that cost investors billions and shook the financial world.