Wirecard: €24 billion of market value, gone in a week
A German payments company that had joined the DAX, passed annual audits, and won investment from SoftBank collapsed after €1.9 billion of reported cash could not be found. The warning signs had been public for years.
Public reporting, not client work. Acervus was not involved in the events described in these case studies, which are drawn entirely from public reporting. Figures are as reported by the cited sources and have not been independently verified by Acervus.
- €24bnpeak market value, 2018
- €1.9bnreported cash that could not be found
- −97%share price, June 17 to June 25, 2020
- €900Minvested by SoftBank in 2019
01What happened
Wirecard grew from a small payments processor into one of Germany's most valuable technology companies. Its shares rose from about €17 in 2013 to an all-time high in 2018, when it joined the DAX index of Germany's largest listed companies. Much of its reported profit came from partner companies in Asia that processed payments on its behalf.
On June 18, 2020, Wirecard announced that its auditor could not confirm €1.9 billion held in trust accounts, about a quarter of its balance sheet. The shares lost around 60% within minutes. The company then said the money most likely did not exist, and on June 25 it filed for insolvency, the first DAX member to do so. The shares closed that day at €3.50 and fell below €1 by late August.
02The signs that were already public
Journalists, short sellers, and later a special auditor had raised specific questions for five years. Each time, the share price fell and recovered, and the company, its auditor, and Germany's financial regulator BaFin pushed back on the critics. In 2019 BaFin temporarily banned short selling of the stock, and authorities investigated journalists who had reported on the company.
03Aftermath
Former CEO Markus Braun was arrested in June 2020. His criminal trial in Munich began in December 2022; he has denied the charges. Former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek disappeared after the collapse and is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. The head of BaFin and his deputy left the regulator in January 2021. Courts in Singapore and the United States have sentenced people connected to the case, and a German court ordered former board members to pay €140 million in damages.
04Public warning signs
- Apr 2015Financial Times "House of Wirecard" column questions its accounts
- Feb 2016Zatarra Research report; shares fall from €42 to €33
- Jan 2019FT reports suspected forged and backdated contracts in Singapore; shares fall from €167 to €108 in two days
- Feb 2019Singapore police search Wirecard's offices; BaFin bans short selling for two months
- Apr 2020KPMG special audit cannot verify most 2016–2018 profits; shares fall from €132 to €98
- Jun 18, 2020€1.9 billion in cash cannot be confirmed
- Jun 25, 2020Insolvency filing
05Wirecard share price at key moments
| Date | Event | Price (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Start of the rise | ≈17 |
| Feb 24, 2016 | After Zatarra report | 33 |
| 2018 | All-time high, DAX entry year | ≈199 |
| Jan 31, 2019 | After FT Singapore report | 108 |
| Apr 28, 2020 | After KPMG special audit | 98 |
| Jun 17, 2020 | Day before the announcement (high) | 104.50 |
| Jun 22, 2020 | Cash declared likely nonexistent | <15 |
| Jun 25, 2020 | Insolvency filing | 3.50 |
| Aug 28, 2020 | Below €1 | <1 |
Euros per share. Selected prices reported at each event, not a continuous daily series. The 2018 high is approximate. Sources: LUISS working paper on Wirecard and BaFin (2021); FXStreet, June 30, 2020.
What it shows
Credentials are not verification
An index listing, clean audit opinions, a supervising regulator, and a famous investor all signaled legitimacy. None of them confirmed that the cash existed.
The questions were answerable from outside
The critical questions were whether the partner companies were real businesses and whether the reported money was where the company said it was. Reporters pursued those questions from public records and on-the-ground checks.
Pushback is not a rebuttal
Lawsuits against critics, regulatory action against short sellers, and confident denials kept investors in the stock. They did not answer the questions.
Losses arrive faster than exits
Shareholders had five years of warnings and one week of collapse. Once the cash was declared missing, there was no orderly way out.
Where Acervus applies
- Investigative Analytics verifies, independently and from the outside, whether counterparties, partners, and the people behind them are what they claim to be.
- Private Equity & M&A diligence brings those questions forward, before a commitment is signed rather than after a collapse.
- Custom Solutions are built for clients whose exposure, jurisdiction, or sensitivity calls for work beyond a standard engagement.
Our experience
Acervus has applied its Investigative Analytics and Custom Solutions to matters of this kind for past clients. Client work is confidential. Examples are available to vetted clients on request.
Acervus was not involved in the events described in these case studies, which are drawn entirely from public reporting.
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Sources
Publications as listed in the Acervus case studies document. Links are provided where the exact publication was located; other citations are given as listed. Titles and dates are as cited; consult the original publications for full context.
- Wikipedia, "Wirecard scandal" (timeline, €24bn peak, €1.9bn, SoftBank, BaFin, Marsalek); Financial Times reporting, 2015–2020.
- LUISS School of European Political Economy, "The Wirecard scandal and the role of BaFin," working paper (share prices at events). Online: LUISS publication page (opens in a new tab), working paper PDF (opens in a new tab)
- FXStreet, June 30, 2020 (June 2020 high); Malay Mail, June 25, 2020 (first DAX member to file for insolvency); Wikipedia, "Markus Braun"; Baker McKenzie Global Litigation News, January 3, 2025 (€140 million). Online: Baker McKenzie article (€140 million) (opens in a new tab)