Here are 7 of the well-known companies that went bankrupt in 2023

It’s been a rough year for some household-name US retailers and businesses. As the economy emerged out of the Covid-19 pandemic, companies faced a laundry list of problems arising from high costs, supply shortages and growing competition.

It’s been a rough year for some household-name US retailers and businesses. As the economy emerged out of the Covid-19 pandemic, companies faced a laundry list of problems arising from high costs, supply shortages and growing competition. As a result, several big names filed for bankruptcy in 2023. A bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily mean a business is going bust, of course. Many businesses in the US file for bankruptcy to wind down some operations, shed debt and save on costs. A common route is Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows the company to solve its financial problems through reorganization. WeWork had a wild ride in 2023. Once the nation’s most valuable start-up, the company seemed poised to remake the nature of work in America. Some compare its meteoric rise and chaotic, high-profile fall to the Fyre Festival and FTX fiascos. The beleaguered coworking-space company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. It was not much of a surprise. The month prior, WeWork had said it was struggling to pay back its debt after the pandemic rocked its core business as more people worked from home. The former tech unicorn began coming undone long before Covid-19, however. A botched IPO attempt in 2019 unraveled the business, revealing larger-than-expected losses and potential conflicts of interest with the company’s cofounder and then-CEO Adam Neumann. Neumann’s unorthodox leadership style was the subject of lots of news coverage (along with a Hulu documentary), and he was ousted in 2019.