- Joined
- Jan 24, 2013
- Messages
- 8,834
- Reaction score
- 2,812
- Location
- Alabama
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
It's not that they had "zero value."
It's that during a reorganization, companies still need funding and huge amounts of credit just to keep going and to pay their suppliers. Since the private sector was unwilling and/or unable to provide that funding, the companies would have needed to liquidate just to keep the bankruptcy going. This in turn would have sunk their suppliers, who wouldn't get paid. Those suppliers also make parts for Ford. There would have been a cascade effect on the entire industry.
And yes, brands with international recognition, long histories and profitable pasts certainly can fail, brands lost or turned into shadows of their pasts. Pan Am, Lehman Brothers, Woolworth's, Polaroid, Kodak....
We'll never know for sure since the government took it into bankruptcy court with its own prepackaged deal...