The Largest Class Action Settlements In U.S. History

The top ten largest class action settlements in securities cases in the U.S. have recouped tens of billions of dollars in damages.

1. Enron Corporation (Newby v. Enron Corp., Case No. 4:01-cv-03624): The Enron class action was settled in 2008 for $7.2 billion. The case was filed against Enron after they filed for bankruptcy upon the exposure of widespread internal fraud.
2. WorldCom, Inc. (In re WorldCom, Inc. Sec. Litig., Case No. 02-cv-3288): The consolidated WorldCom class action was settled in 2005 for $6.1 billion after WorldCom was exposed for overstating its revenue by billions of dollars and subsequently filing for bankruptcy.
3. Tyco International Ltd. (In re Tyco Int'l LTD. Sec. Litig., Case No. 02-266-PB): The consolidated Tyco class action was settled for $3.2 billion in 2013 after Tyco was accused of misleading investors about the company's profits, as well as making large payments to senior leadership, causing the stock price to fall by more than 40%.
4. Cendant Corporation (In re Cendant Corp. Litig., Master File No. 98-1664): The consolidated Cendant class action was settled for $3.1 billion in 2010 after Cendant overstated its profits by $100 million which caused its stock to be artificially inflated.
5. Petrolo Brasiliero S.A. (In re Petrobras Sec. Litig., Case No. 14-cv-9662): The Petrobras class action was settled in 2018 for $3 billion after the company was accused of corruption, including running a multi-billion-dollar money laundering and bribery scheme. Due to the alleged activity by the company, the stock price fell by more than 46%.
6. Nortel Networks Corporation (In re Nortel Networks Corp. Sec. Litig., Case No. 01-CV-1855): Two separate class actions (Nortal I and Nortal II) were mediated and settled in 2007 for combined $2.9 billion after plaintiffs alleged that the company provided inaccurate financial statements, which caused the stock price to fall.
7. AOL Time Warner, Inc. (AOL Time Warner, Inc. Sec. Litig., Case No. 02 Civ. 5575): The consolidated AOL class action was settled in 2006 for $2.5 billion after the company was accused of artificially inflating its stock price, which upon discovery, caused the price per share to drop by more than 66%.
8. Bank of America Corporation, Merger with Merrill Lynch (In re Bank Of America Corp. Sec., Deriv., And ERISA Litig., Master File No. 09-2058): The consolidated Bank of America case was settled for $2.4 billion in 2013 after Bank of America was accused of trying to offset a $15.3 billion loss in Q4 2008 by acquiring funding from the U.S. Treasury Department. Upon discovery of the losses, the stock price for Bank of America shares dropped by 31%.
9. Household International Inc. (Jaffe v. Household Int'l, Inc., No. 02 C 5893): The consolidated Jaffe class action was settled for $1.5 billion in 2016 after Household was accused of overstating its income between 1997 and 2002.
10. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (In re Valeant Pharms. Int'l, Inc. Sec. Litig., Master No. 3:15-cv-07658): The consolidated Valeant class action was settled for $1.2 billion in 2021 after valent was accused of failing to disclose that the company was being investigated by the federal government for activities such as using specialty pharmacies to boost sales and having poor internal controls.

The first half of 2025 featured several notable settlements in the class action space, such as:

1. Poultry Processing Wage-Fixing Antitrust (Case No. 1:19‑cv‑02521): The District Court for the District of Maryland approved a $398.05 million settlement in a massive poultry processing wage-fixing antitrust class action. Workers employed by poultry processors and related entities challenged wage-fixing and other anticompetitive misconduct in what is the largest antitrust settlement recovery ever recorded in the Fourth Circuit and the second-largest wage-fixing recovery in U.S. history.
2. Nnebe v. Daus (Case No. 1:06-cv-04991): The District for the Southern District of New York approved a $140 million settlement in a case which challenged the Taxi and Limousine Commission's practice of revoking or suspending licenses without giving drivers a fair hearing. The settlement is intended to help recoup financial losses that taxi and limousine drivers suffered as a result of their licenses being suspended or revoked due to arrests, particularly arrests that led to no further conviction.
3. Sharon Sporleder v. State of Minnesota (Case No. 62-CV-23-3405): The State of Minnesota agreed to a $109 million settlement to compensate property owners who had forfeited their property to the state but claimed that the excess value of the property was retained by the state.
4. Rick Woods v. Google Inc. (Case No. 5:11-cv-01263): The District Court for the Northern District of California approved a $100 million settlement to resolve a case against Google which claimed that Google overcharged business owners for using its AdWords platform to advertise their services.
5. Fumiko Lopez v. Apple, Inc. (Case No. 4:19-cv-04577): The District Court for the Northern District of California approved a $95 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit which alleged that Siri unlawfully recorded user conversations and sold the data to third party companies. In the case, the plaintiffs claimed that phenomena such as ads appearing for goods and services which had been discussed near an Apple device with Siri, violated privacy rights of users.
6. In Re: Cattle and Beef Antitrust Litig. (MDL No. 3031): The District Court for the District of Minnesota approved a $83.5 million settlement in a multidistrict litigation case accusing JBS USA and other beef producers of surpassing the price paid for feeder cattle. There are five other lawsuits which are still being litigated in the multidistrict litigation.
7. In re Grab Holdings Ltd. Sec. Litig. (Case No. 1:22-cv-02189): The District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a $80 million settlement in a securities lawsuit against Grab, an app from Southeast Asia which allows users to book rides, order food, and send and receive digital payments. The lawsuit alleged that Grab's leadership misled stockholders about how its incentive spending strategy would impact the company financially. The lawsuit was filed after the stock price for the company fell by 37.3%.
8. Saunders v. Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (Case No. 22-000007): The Michigan Court of Claims approved a $55 million settlement in a case brought by thousands of pandemic-era benefit recipients against Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, alleging due process violations because MUIA reversed eligibility determinations and pursued repayment of those benefits without sufficient notice or opportunity to appeal.
9. In re MGM Resorts Int'l Data Breach Litig. (Case No. 20-cv-00376): The District Court for the District of Nevada approved a $45 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit which claimed that MGM failed to adequately protect the sensitive data of guests. MGM had two major data breaches, one in July 2019 and the other in September 2023, in which data such as passport and social security numbers of guests was exposed.

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