Case #2 · Wirecard AG Cost of Failure: €24 Billion, Erased Within Days

The auditor confirmed what the institution needed to be true. €1.9Bn simply did not exist.

In September 2018, Wirecard AG joined the DAX 30, Germany’s index of its thirty most valuable listed companies, replacing Commerzbank.

At its peak, the payments processor was worth more than Deutsche Bank.

Investors, regulators, and one of the world’s largest audit firms all agreed, this was one of Europe’s great fintech success stories.

By August 2020, Wirecard was insolvent.
Its CEO was under arrest. Its COO had vanished and remains a fugitive today. €24Bn in market value had been erased within days,
and €1.9Bn the company had reported holding in trustee accounts in the Philippines had never existed at all.