The dot-com bubble's peak and subsequent crash wiped out trillions in market value and reshaped investment in internet-based businesses.
Key Facts
- Nasdaq peak date
- March 10, 2000
- Nasdaq rise (1995–2000)
- 600%
- Nasdaq decline from peak
- 78% by October 2002
- Cisco stock value loss
- 80% of market capitalization
- Bubble period
- Approximately 1995–2002
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Widespread adoption of the World Wide Web in the late 1990s fueled enormous optimism about internet commerce. Venture capital flooded into new dot-com startups, and speculative investor enthusiasm drove valuations far beyond any rational basis, with Nasdaq Composite investments rising 600% between 1995 and March 2000.
The dot-com bubble peaked on March 10, 2000, when the Nasdaq Composite reached its highest point. The period saw rapid formation and astronomical valuations of internet-based companies in e-commerce, communications, and media, collectively also called the tech–media–telecom (TMT) bubble.
Following the peak, Nasdaq fell 78% by October 2002, erasing all bubble-era gains. Numerous companies including Pets.com, Webvan, Boo.com, and WorldCom collapsed or shut down. Major firms like Amazon and Cisco lost enormous portions of their market capitalization, fundamentally altering how investors approached technology ventures.