Overview
In financial slang, a bagholder is a shareholder left holding shares of worthless stocks. The bagholder typically bought in near the peak, when people were hyping the asset and the price was high, and held it all the way through steep declines, losing a large amount of money in the process.
It can also refer to the holder of other assets and financial instruments that become worthless, such as the junior bonds of a defaulted company or the coins of a failed cryptocurrency. The word is derived by combining "shareholder" with the expression "left holding the bag."
Examples
The shareholders could be caught up in a corporate bankruptcy and accounting scandal, as was the case with Enron and Worldcom, or be the victims of a pump and dump scheme, in which investors fall victim to e-mail spam, rigged stock tip forums, or other tricks used by stock touts to drive up the shares of worthless penny stocks.
If a worthless property is bought with the intent to sell it at a higher price, the gullible person who ends up owning it is said to be the bagholder.
2 sources for this section
Etymology
The expression "left holding the bag" originated in eighteenth-century Britain and spread throughout the English-speaking world. In this context, a person left holding the bag is stuck with the stolen goods, taking the blame from the police while the rest of a criminal gang escapes.
The phrase is also used in association with the fool's errand known as a snipe hunt, a practical joke in which an unsuspecting newcomer is led outdoors and left "holding the bag" in which to catch a creature that does not exist. As an American rite of passage or haze, it is often associated with summer camps and groups such as the Boy Scouts.
6 sources for this section
- 1Bagholder — Wikipedia, revision 1361607987
- 4"Q&A Left Holding the Bag". World Wide Words. 2002-11-30. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
- 5Partridge, Eric (2006). A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. p. 560. ISBN 9781134963652.
- 6Brunvand, Jan Harold (1996). American Folklore: An Encyclopedia. New York: Taylor & Francis. pp. 233, 1233. ISBN 0-815-30751-9.
- 7Palmatier, Robert Allen (1995). Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing. p. 357. ISBN 0313294909.
- 8Fee, Christopher R.; Webb, Jeffrey B., eds. (2016). American myths, legends, and tall tales : an encyclopedia of American folklore. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 514. ISBN 9781610695671.
The source notesEvidence & further reading8 sources
- Bagholder — Wikipedia, revision 1361607987 Wikipedia contributors · Reference source · accessed 2026-09-22
- Booth, Richard A. (1998). "Stockholders, Stakeholders, and Bagholders (or How Investor Diversification Affects Fiduciary Duty)". The Business Lawyer. 53 (2): 429–478. JSTOR 40687791. SSRN 149731. jstor.org · Reference source · link imported 2026-09-22
- "Bag Holder - What Does It Mean?". davemanuel.com · Reference source · link imported 2026-09-22
- "Q&A Left Holding the Bag". World Wide Words. 2002-11-30. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 2006-12-03. worldwidewords.org · Reference source · link imported 2026-09-22
- Partridge, Eric (2006). A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. p. 560. ISBN 9781134963652. books.google.com · Reference source · link imported 2026-09-22
- Brunvand, Jan Harold (1996). American Folklore: An Encyclopedia. New York: Taylor & Francis. pp. 233, 1233. ISBN 0-815-30751-9. books.google.com · Reference source · link imported 2026-09-22
- Palmatier, Robert Allen (1995). Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing. p. 357. ISBN 0313294909. books.google.com · Reference source · link imported 2026-09-22
- Fee, Christopher R.; Webb, Jeffrey B., eds. (2016). American myths, legends, and tall tales : an encyclopedia of American folklore. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 514. ISBN 9781610695671.