The dot-com bubble bursts

March 2000

The Nasdaq peaked in March and then began an eighteen-month slide that erased trillions in paper wealth. Pets.com was liquidated, sock-puppet mascot and all. Hundreds of startups folded within months, and Silicon Valley parking lots emptied. The exuberance of the late nineties curdled into pink slips and shuttered offices, but the underlying internet kept quietly growing.