Lansing, Mich.—The city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 protection Thursday. At an estimated market capitalization of $150 billion, it becomes the largest publicly-owned municipal entity to declare bankruptcy in United States history.
Once the industrial gemstone of the American midwest, Detroit has fallen on extremely hard times since the 2009 restructuring of its parent company, General Motors. It now stands largely vacant.
In response to the filing, Detroit has been temporarily removed from the Dow Jones Municipal Average and replaced by Portland, Oregon. It will continue to trade over-the-counter under the symbol XXXDM.
