General Motors Went Bankrupt. Taxpayers Paid $50B to Save It.

Fallen Giants EP20. On June 1st, 2009, the largest industrial company on earth went bankrupt — and American taxpayers spent $50 billion to save it. For four years, General Motors was majority-owned by the U.S. government. This is the story of how the king of the road went broke, and who paid the bill. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Fall 0:33 King of the Road 1:35 The Rot 2:37 The Private Jets 3:38 The President Fires the CEO 4:43 Government Motors 5:42 The Bill 6:43 Was It Worth It? Was the $50 billion bailout worth the $10.5 billion loss? Or should the market have been allowed to let General Motors die? Tell us in the comments. If you found this story wild, subscribe to Fallen Giants — never miss a great story. PHOTO CREDITS Rick Wagoner photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 Barack Obama official portrait: Official White House photo (public domain) via Wikimedia Commons General Motors logo: public domain via Wikimedia Commons All other visuals are AI-generated originals for this video. SOURCES Congressional Research Service: The Role of TARP Assistance in the Restructuring of General Motors U.S. Treasury statements on GM share sales (Dec 2013) AP / Automotive News reporting on the GM bankruptcy and bailout #FallenGiants #GeneralMotors #Bankruptcy #Bailout #Documentary