Nasdaq peaks at 5,048
On March 10, 2000, the Nasdaq Composite closed at 5,048.62, up 109 percent in a year. The index had more than quintupled since 1995. Within months it was cut in half. It bottomed at 1,114 in October 2002, down 78 percent peak to trough. The Nasdaq would not close above its March 2000 level again until April 2015, fifteen years underwater. Pets.com, which raised $82 million in its February 2000 IPO, liquidated nine months later. Most of the companies that went public in 1999 no longer existed by 2003.
Among the most-hyped companies of 1999 was Pets.com, which had a sock-puppet mascot and raised $82M in its IPO. Its most famous slogan was 'Because pets can't drive.' The company operated for nine months after IPO before liquidating.
07 · Dot-com Crash
Between 1995 and March 2000, the Nasdaq rose more than fivefold. Any business with a .com in its name could raise money on a spreadsheet. The thesis was real — the internet would reshape the economy — but the valuations were a different thing entirely. Pets.com, Webvan, Kozmo, eToys. When the cash ran out, it ran out everywhere at once.
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