Includes bibliographical references and index.

American International Group (AIG) : too big to fail -- AOL-Time Warner merger of 2000 -- Apple fires Steve Jobs -- Apple Newton released in the 1990s -- Arthur Andersen : an accounting firm fails -- Asian economic meltdown in the 1990s -- Atari Inc. : an early video game pioneer -- Aventis and tainted corn -- Barings Bank brought down by one man -- Bernie Madoff's investment Ponzi scheme -- Bethlehem Steel Corporation -- Boo.com : an online clothing retailer goes bankrupt -- Borders Books closes its doors -- BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster -- Circuit City falls to competition -- Clairol's Touch of Yogurt shampoo -- Commodore computers : from calculators to PCs -- Countrywide and the subprime mortgage crisis -- Daimler and Chrysler : two major multinationals merge -- Dasani Water global expansion woes -- Decca Records declines the Beatles -- DeLorean Motor Company : its rise and fall -- Dot-com bubble builds and bursts, 1995-2000 -- Dow Corning and silicone breast implants controversy -- Dutch tulip bulb market bubble of the 17th century -- Enron Corporation's bankruptcy -- Equitable Life Assurance Company -- Exxon Valdez : an epic oil spill --

F.W. Woolworth Company : iconic five and dime closes -- Fashion Cafe : a theme restaurant fails -- Fen-Phen's release and recall in the 1990s -- Flooz.com and virtual cash -- Florida real estate craze of the 1920s -- Ford Edsel : the car nobody wanted -- Ford Pinto : safety concerns in the 1970s -- Ford, Firestone tires, and rollovers -- Global Crossing : a telecom company with accounting issues -- Henry Ford fails to change the Model T -- Hollywood Video and Blockbuster : video rental bankruptcies -- Hoover vacuums and the free flight promotion -- IBM launches the PCJr in 1984 -- IndyMac : risky mortgage loans in the late 20th century -- JVC's VHS vs. Sony's Betamax -- KB Toys : its rise and demise -- Kodak Film Company files for bankruptcy -- Lehman Brothers : fall of an investment titan -- Lernaut & Hauspie : a Belgian tech company goes bankrupt -- Lincoln Savings and Loan and the 1980's S&L scandal -- Lionel Train in 1959 -- Mark Twain : serial inventor -- Mattel and The Learning Company merge -- Mattel, Inc. : toy recalls tarnish image -- McDonald's french fries controversy -- Merck & Company's pain relief drug Vioxx --

Motorola Iridium global satellite phone system -- Napster and RIAA go to court -- Napster : revolutionary music file sharing service ends -- Netscape web browser : former market leader falls -- New Coke : new formula meets resistance -- News Corp and MySpace merger -- Oil and corruption in Nigeria -- Operating systems and rise of the PC -- PanAm : the end of an airline industry icon -- Penn Central Transportation Company -- Pets.com : failure of an Internet start-up -- Polaroid Corporation : displaced by digital photography -- Quaker Oats and Snapple : cross-branding confusion -- Qwest Communications : telecom accounting scandal -- R.J. Reynolds smokeless cigarettes -- Ratners Group : the importance of brand awareness -- RCA and the launch of the SelectaVision VideoDisc -- Schlitz Beer : fall of a former industry leader -- Securities Exchange Company : Charles Ponzi's creation -- Segway : a unique personal transportation device -- South Sea market bubble of the 18th century -- Sprint acquires Nextel -- Steve and Barry's : collegiate retailer goes bankrupt -- Sunbeam Corporation gets downsized into bankruptcy --

Swissair AG : the flying bank -- Tobacco industry's truth about cigarettes -- Tower Records : a music retail giant falls -- Toyota vehicle recalls 2008 and 2009 -- Tucker Automobile : a man's dream unrealized -- Tyco International Ltd's executive misdeeds -- U.S. automaker bailouts, 2009 -- U.S. housing bubble and credit crisis in the late-2000s -- U.S. savings and loan crisis of the 1980s -- U.S. stock market crash of 1929 -- U.S. stock market crash of 1987 -- Union Carbide : industrial disaster in Bhopal, India -- Universal Pictures' Waterworld (1995) -- ValuJet Airlines : safety problems and a fatal crash -- Vivendi Universal : a French media conglomerate -- Wachovia Corporation ventures into risky mortgage lending -- Wang Laboratories falters during the rise of the PC -- Washington Mutual savings & loan -- Webvan : failed online grocery retailer -- Western Union passes on the telephone patent -- WorldCom : accounting fraud and aggressive acquisitions -- Xerox Alto : the first personal computer?

Profiles the biggest corporate mistakes or misdeeds throughout history, covering the people, the times, the decisions made.

Description based on print version record.