Nortel was once the crown jewel on the Toronto Stock Exchange. At one point Nortel alone accounted for 35% of the entire composite index. Today the weeping giant, Nortel, announced that they have filed for bankruptcy protection. You can see the announcement on their website.
Trading on the TSX has been halted, and according to Andrew Wahl Nortel will likely be de-listed completely from the TSX and NYSE. From largest company in the index to de-listing in a decade.
I have always been personally interested in this company as I used to work for them. I worked for them until I got frustrated and quit. There were still many great people at the time of my departure. Over the years they have slowly been leaving (one way or another). My heart goes out to those that are still there.
What is interesting is that Nortel sucked it up and declared bankruptcy, after years of trying to recover from poor management. While some other poorly run companies are getting bailed out.
Update: The TSX has resumed trading of NT. The price has dropped 62.34%
2 responses so far ↓
1 Mr. Cheap // Jan 15, 2009 at 20:36
I too worked at Nortel at one point, and I was also quite happy the day I walked out the door for the last time.
Definitely a sad day for the Canadian telecommunication industry, but not the most shocking news ever.
2 wc // Jan 16, 2009 at 17:58
There seem to be many of us Canadian PF bloggers who worked there. I wonder if the NT stock rollercoaster combined with our options, DPSP, discount stock purchase plan, … had anything to do with our interest in finance.
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