7 of 21
BACKNEXT
Dubai's debt threat
Dubai's debt threat
When the state-owned Dubai World investment company asked creditors for six more months to repay billions of dollars of maturing debts, global stock markets were shocked and tumbled 2%.

But why was it such a surprise? Dubai World bought pricey hotels and developed islands in the Persian Gulf at a time when global wealth had taken a depressionary drubbing.

Yes, it is based in a Middle East city-state surrounded by oil wealth, but it has next to no oil reserves of its own. And it was backed by the considerable heft of Dubai and its sister state of Abu Dhabi, until it became clear that government ministers weren't about to bail out the dupes who lent massive sums to its fantasy-land.

Chalk up another goose egg for the so-called science of risk management.

By Colin Barr, Fortune senior writer

NEXT: AIG: The country's most tone-deaf CEO

Last updated December 31 2009: 1:41 PM ET
Email | Print | Share  |  RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
More Galleries
5 biggest share buybacks of 2014
5 biggest share buybacks of 2014
Stock repurchases are booming. These five companies are ready to spend over $79 billion on buybacks. More
10 horrifying corporate mascots
10 horrifying corporate mascots
McDonald's Happy is part of a long lineage of creatures great and small that shill for products and mortify consumers. Mr. Mucus, anyone? More
5 best cities to launch a career
5 best cities to launch a career
The top spots in the U.S. for new grads to land a job -- and actually enjoy life -- according to financial site WalletHub. More
Contact Us Closed Captioning Manage Cookies+ Site Map

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.