A Costly Lesson in Data Management and Oversight In 2005, Kodak, the once-mighty giant in the photography industry, was already facing significant challenges as it tried to adapt to the rise of digital photography. However, the company found itself embroiled in a...
In 1994, one of the world’s most significant mutual funds, Fidelity’s Magellan Fund, announced a whopping $4.32 billion distribution to shareholders. It was news that sent investors into celebration—until it was revealed that the payout was based on a simple...
In 2010, MI5, the United Kingdom’s domestic counterintelligence agency, made a grave mistake due to a simple spreadsheet formatting error. This blunder resulted in the wrongful surveillance of 134 individuals unrelated to ongoing investigations. On top of this,...
A Preventable Disaster In 2003, TransAlta Corporation, a major Canadian power generator, made a simple yet costly mistake. The spreadsheet error occurred during a routine task—a team member used a copy-paste function within an Excel spreadsheet. But this minor error...
How JPMorgan Chase’s “London Whale” Incident Unfolded In 2012, a $6 billion loss by JPMorgan Chase shocked the financial world. The incident, now infamous as the “London Whale” scandal, was caused not by market volatility, but by an Excel error. That’s right—something...
