Bankruptcy
NorthPoint filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 23, 2001 when it lost the ability to continue to pay its creditors. It then pushed to find short term sources of money to keep the company afloat.
By March 29, 2001, NorthPoint's financial foundation had collapsed, with no source of debt relief. The next morning, Liz Fetter, Northpoint President and CEO sent a letter to ISPs including the following statement:
"At this point it is clear that NorthPoint no longer has funds available to finance the continued operations of our network. As a result, I am hereby giving you notice that the cessation of services to our partners and subscribers and the complete shut down of our network will commence today."
This in fact happened. Over the course of the next several days, tens of thousands of end customers' DSL service terminated, with no 'life raft' or any grace period allowed for customers to move to a different ISP.
AT&T Corporation bought the physical assets of NorthPoint communications for $135 million shortly thereafter, effectively ending the company's existence.
Read more about this topic: NorthPoint Communications
Famous quotes containing the word bankruptcy:
“Disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy—the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“A woman’s whole life is a history of the affections. The heart is her world: it is there her ambition strives for empire; it is there her avarice seeks for hidden treasures. She sends forth her sympathies on adventure; she embarks her whole soul on the traffic of affection; and if shipwrecked, her case is hopeless—for it is a bankruptcy of the heart.”
—Washington Irving (1783–1859)
“The heritage of the American Revolution is forgotten, and the American government, for better and for worse, has entered into the heritage of Europe as though it were its patrimony—unaware, alas, of the fact that Europe’s declining power was preceded and accompanied by political bankruptcy, the bankruptcy of the nation-state and its concept of sovereignty.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)