From tech giants to fashion empires, watch how individual actions can bring down entire companies. We're examining the most dramatic falls from grace in corporate history, where controversial decisions, scandals, and poor leadership led to the destruction of beloved brands and businesses.
04:12The BlackBerry Storm released in 2008, a year after the iPhone, and disappointed customers with its buggy touchscreen and lack of Wi-Fi.
04:19Despite BlackBerry's head start in the smartphone world, Apple quickly surpassed the Canadian company,
04:24which has since discontinued their flagship product.
04:26We supported our devices for many years after we announced the exit of us manufacturing and designing our own smartphones.
04:35And now, over the last number of years, have fully transitioned into the enterprise and the foundational IoT software space.
04:42Number 6. Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX.
04:45Once considered a cryptocurrency wunderkind, Bankman-Fried quickly became the poster child for modern-day investment fraud,
04:52when his shady business practices were uncovered in 2022.
04:55Bankman-Fried is now facing a dozen federal charges in Manhattan court related to the collapse of FTX and Alameda.
05:02Bankman-Fried founded FTX, short for Futures Exchange, in 2019.
05:06When concerns arose over the company's management of investments, customers began withdrawing their assets at rates FTX couldn't keep up with.
05:13At the end of the day, look, there's a question of what happened and why and who did what.
05:18The company was forced to declare bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO shortly before he was arrested on charges of fraud and money laundering.
05:26FTX and Bankman-Fried are now synonymous with crypto fraud.
05:29And the scandal severely damaged consumers' trust in crypto exchanges like FTX.
05:33Sam Bankman-Fried's regret. Three days after he was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison,
05:38the man behind one of the biggest financial frauds in American history told ABC News he never intended to hurt anyone or take anyone's money.
05:46Number 5. Lance Armstrong. Live strong.
05:49Celebrated athlete and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong founded this nonprofit to provide support for other cancer survivors, a truly noble cause.
05:56For the Lance Armstrong Foundation, what it was like to have cancer was totally different.
06:00It was much more private and much more isolated.
06:07With an inspirational celebrity as the face of the nonprofit, Live Strong received an outpouring of public support
06:12and has helped over 100,000 people access critical services.
06:15Getting cancer is a really scary thing.
06:19And man, when you emerge from the other end and you're not dead, it's pretty cool.
06:22And you want other people to realize that you've got hope in your life.
06:27And frankly, you had the resources to turn that into something that benefited a lot of people.
06:31When it emerged that Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs and would be stripped of his Tour de France titles,
06:36major partners like Nike decided to end their relationship with Live Strong.
06:40Armstrong stepped down as chairman and Live Strong rebranded in an effort to distance themselves from their founder.
06:45Since the scandal, the foundation's annual income has continued to suffer.
06:48Live Strong is there from the moment of diagnosis, not just for the patient, but also anyone in that family unit.
06:56Number 4. Harvey Weinstein, The Weinstein Company
06:58After getting away with one of the biggest open secrets in Hollywood for decades,
07:02Weinstein's actions finally caught up to him in a major way.
07:05Tonight, Harvey Weinstein is out.
07:08Victims of sexual harassment and abuse from Weinstein came forward in droves, triggering the hashtag MeToo movement.
07:13As a result, Weinstein's name was permanently tarnished alongside his production company, The Weinstein Company.
07:19Everything he did, everything that drove him, was about dominance, with men and women.
07:25He put an enormous amount of energy into humiliating men, and an enormous amount of energy into getting women to submit.
07:35Weinstein was fired as CEO after the allegations emerged, but just a few months later, the company would declare bankruptcy.
07:40While it's disappointing that he was able to get away with abuse for so long, the overwhelming public rejection of Weinstein's name was refreshing to see.
07:48Judge Mary Wolraff approved the Weinstein Company's liquidation plan that will set aside $17 million for those who say they are his victims.
07:57Number 3. Bernard Ebbers, WorldCom
07:59The once-second-largest long-distance telephone company in America quickly became the biggest telecommunications embarrassment when a large accounting scandal was revealed in 2002.
08:08WorldCom, the leader in globally managed VPN solutions on the world's most scalable global IP network.
08:15WorldCom.
08:17The telecom cowboy, as Ebbers was known, had been covering up WorldCom's falling earnings with accounting fraud amounting to $3.8 billion in false records.
08:25WorldCom, a telecom giant destroyed by a massive accounting fraud.
08:30An investigation by the SEC estimated the total fraud to be closer to $11 billion, the largest accounting fraud scandal in American history at the time.
08:37WorldCom filed for bankruptcy and was eventually acquired by Verizon Communications.
08:41Ebbers was charged and found guilty of fraud and conspiracy, earning him a 25-year prison sentence.
08:46Ebbers was released from prison in late December after serving 13 years of a sentence for a massive accounting fraud.
08:53Number 2. Kanye West, Yeezy
08:55After launching a fashion line in collaboration with Adidas, Yeezy instantly became a certified streetwear staple.
09:00We have a team of incredible designers.
09:04We'll take the entire design team to Japan.
09:06We'll take the entire design team to Zone and talk about, you know, where we'd like to take these ideas.
09:15Kanye's fame helped him expand Yeezy into an empire, including multiple fashion lines, a music label, and a news website.
09:21In recent years, Kanye's controversial political comments have landed him and his brand in some trouble.
09:26It's like some Black Mirror episode.
09:29They wanted to do everything to prove to me that I didn't have a right to say anything out loud that went against people who own the media, people who own the music industry.
09:41His anti-Semitic remarks in 2022 caused Adidas and Gap to sever ties with the rapper and entrepreneur.
09:47More recently, a distasteful shirt featured a swastika was sold on Yeezy.com, resulting in e-commerce company Shopify shutting the website down.
09:55I already disagree.
09:56It's not in contrast.
09:57There's so many people and artists that are championing the idea of someone being able to just express who they really are.
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10:18Number 1. Elon Musk – Tesla
10:22The wealthiest person in the world with a whopping $345 billion net worth, Elon Musk has been the CEO and public face of Tesla since 2008.
10:30They attack you a lot.
10:31They do.
10:33And you seem to laugh it off.
10:36Under Musk's leadership, the electric cars became popular for both their sleek, futuristic look and positive impact on the environment.
10:42This year, however, Tesla's share prices are down 40%.
10:45The reason?
10:46Musk's controversial involvement in the Trump administration, particularly as the head of Doge.
10:51But I think we're doing the right thing here.
10:52The, you know, there's been a tremendous amount of waste and fraud in the government.
10:57Though his slashing of government programs has shocked many,
11:00Tesla shareholders are particularly worried that Doge has consumed too much of the CEO's attention.
11:05Though Tesla profits are still currently down, Musk returning his focus to Tesla might bolster his investors.
11:10You got a lot on your plate.
11:11Yes, I have a lot on my plate.
11:13It's crazy.
11:14Which of these individuals do you think made the biggest brand in Blunders?
11:18Let us know in the comments.
11:19We've just been singled out, right?
11:20Because we're so successful around the world.
11:22It's an iconic product.
11:24It's used by business.
11:25It's used by leaders.
11:26It's used by celebrities.
11:27It's used by consumers.
11:29It's used by teenagers.
11:30I mean, we just singled out, you know, just because of our success.
