Anatomy of a collapse // BBBY
How Bed Bath & Beyond Bought Itself Into Bankruptcy
A $12 billion retail icon that bought back its own stock until it couldn't pay its bills, then liquidated 480 stores and wiped out shareholders.
$11.7B
spent on its own stock buybacks
The signal
What called it first
A going-concern warning appeared in its own periodic filing before the collapse. The company had spent more than a decade buying back stock instead of building a cushion.
The record
$11.7B
spent on buybacks over a decade
480
stores liquidated
14,000
workers left with nothing
$0
recovered by common shareholders
Watch
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Subscribe on YouTubeThe lesson
The warning was in the filing.
The warning came last, not first. The signal was there the whole time.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR: Bed Bath & Beyond filings (CIK 0000886158)
- Bed Bath & Beyond Chapter 11 petition, April 2023
Not financial advice. Every figure traced to primary sources (SEC filings, court records).
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