Porsche Tried to Take Over Volkswagen, Made €8.57 Billion on the Bet, and Ended Up Owned by VW

On September 30, 2026, Germany's Federal Court of Justice dismissed for good the roughly €5.4 billion that hedge funds were still demanding from Porsche SE over 2008. That October, Porsche's options on Volkswagen had pushed VW stock from €211 to over €1,005 in two trading days, and for a few hours Volkswagen was the most valuable listed company in the world. This is the story of a carmaker that earned more from another company's stock than from its cars: €8.57 billion in pre-tax profit on about €7.46 billion in sales, according to the Financial Times and Reuters. In 1934, Ferdinand Porsche's design office had drawn the people's car. By 2012, Volkswagen owned the Porsche carmaker. The family holding kept a stake in VW and, this year, is losing money on it. Sources on screen and below: Porsche SE's own press releases (2012, 2016, September 30, 2026) and its 2009/10 annual report, Porsche AG's 2025 annual results and 2026 quarterly figures, Volkswagen Group's history of Porsche, and reporting from The New York Times, Reuters, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel and the Journal of Financial Economics, 2005-2026. Attributed, because a single source carries them: the 2007/08 profit (Financial Times) and sales (Reuters); the 2009 debt above €10 billion (Reuters); the March 2008 denial (CNBC); the 1% bonus clause (Priceonomics); the funds' estimated $30 billion in losses (International Banker); Volkswagen's €6 billion goodwill write-down (autonext). Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger Härter were acquitted in 2016. Porsche AG (the carmaker) and Porsche SE (the family holding) are different companies.CHAPTERS 0:00 Porsche SE wins the 2008 Volkswagen lawsuit, September 2026 0:57 Ferdinand Porsche, 1934, and the people's car 2:37 Wendelin Wiedeking and the 1% bonus clause, 1993 5:34 Cash-settled options on Volkswagen shares, 2005-2008 7:04 The Volkswagen short squeeze, October 2008 8:54 €8.57 billion profit on €7.46 billion in sales 10:38 Porsche's €10 billion debt and the hedge fund lawsuits 13:06 Wiedeking out, Qatar in, Volkswagen buys Porsche, 2009-2012 15:23 Porsche AG vs Porsche SE: the acquittal, the IPO, the 2026 ruling IMAGE CREDITS Press and brand material (newsroom.porsche.com ×15, porsche.com ×5, elferspot.com ×3, en.wikipedia.org ×2, motortrend.com ×2, hagerty.com ×2, topspeed.com ×2, stuttcars.com ×2, logodix.com ×2, techtimes.com, volkswagen-group.com, gearpatrol.com, forbesindia.com, loveforporsche.com, finalroundai.com, seekingalpha.com, flickr.com, sfcriga.com, investorrelations.porsche.com, drive.com.au, gestalten.com, reuters.com, motofutura.com, classeturista.com, newatlas.com, content.time.com, amazon.com, stuttgartdna.com, arenaev.com, thespeedjournal.com, caranddriver.com, davedye.com, 1000logos.net, printables.com, tribune.com.pk, news.designrush.com, noticias.coches.com, 99designs.co.uk, adpatina.com, aeternus.rs) — 66 images used, the brand's own material; short excerpts used for commentary and criticism Porsche Taycan GTS, 2026, Porsche AG — newsroom.porsche.com (PRESUMIDO: material da própria marca, publicado em newsroom.porsche.com, usado em contexto de comentário — CONFIRMAR ao promover) https://newsroom.porsche.com/en_US/me... … and 65 more — full item-by-item credits, with URL and checksum, in the project's CREDITOS.md Pexels — 24 images used, all public domain High-tech robots assembling a car in a modern factory setting, showcasing automation. — Hyundai Motor Group (Pexels License (free to use, no attribution required)) https://www.pexels.com/photo/assembli... … and 23 more — full item-by-item credits, with URL and checksum, in the project's CREDITOS.md Wikimedia Commons — 4 images used, all public domain Lehman Brothers Frankfurt.jpg — Karsten11 (Public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... … and 3 more — full item-by-item credits, with URL and checksum, in the project's CREDITOS.md ARCHIVE FOOTAGE Porsche — 3 clips, short excerpts used for commentary and criticism: Porsche | 75 Years of Doing Everything Wrong​ archive.org — 3 clips, public domain or freely licensed; short excerpts used for commentary and criticism: Porsche Independence 1990 Commercial Jayhawker340 — 1 clip, short excerpts used for commentary and criticism: Porsche 911 commercial Archive footage is used in short excerpts, without the original soundtrack, to comment on the events it records. Music composed for this episode. No generated imagery. Built to Break: one brand per episode — the bet that built it, and the moment the same bet cracked it. Every number on screen has a source. #BuiltToBreak #CompanyHistory #Porsche