Wirecard
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Wirecard AG was a Munich-based German payment processor and financial services provider, founded in 1999. It offered electronic payment transactions, risk management, and card issuance and processing - its subsidiary Wirecard Bank AG held a banking licence. It became a DAX index company in September 2018, worth about 24 billion euros at its peak.
02 / Wirecard FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Wirecard was built on years of fraudulent financial reporting: a large share of reported revenue and profit came from opaque third-party businesses in Asia that were never properly verified. The Financial Times' 2019 investigations and a KPMG forensic audit forced the reckoning; on June 18, 2020, auditor EY refused to sign off the 2019 accounts because 1.9 billion euros in reported cash could not be confirmed - and the company admitted it likely never existed. CEO Markus Braun resigned on June 19 and was arrested; COO Jan Marsalek fled and remains an internationally wanted fugitive. On June 25, 2020, Wirecard filed for insolvency, owing creditors almost $4 billion.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Wirecard AG is founded in Munich, Germany as a payment processor.
- DAX listing
Wirecard joins the DAX index in September 2018, worth about 24 billion euros at its peak.
- FT investigations
The Financial Times publishes a series of investigations into Wirecard's accounting; KPMG is hired for an independent audit.
- Collapse
On June 18, 2020, EY refuses to sign off the 2019 accounts; on June 19, CEO Markus Braun resigns and is later arrested; on June 25, 2020, Wirecard files for insolvency.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Wirecard AG was founded in 1999 in Munich as a payment processor, and joined the DAX index in September 2018, worth about 24 billion euros at its peak.
- 02
In 2019, Financial Times investigations exposed years of accounting irregularities; a KPMG audit failed to resolve them.
- 03
On June 18, 2020, auditor EY refused to sign off the 2019 accounts because 1.9 billion euros in reported cash could not be confirmed; CEO Markus Braun resigned the next day and was later arrested.
- 04
On June 25, 2020, Wirecard filed for insolvency, owing creditors almost $4 billion.