FACTBOX: Largest U.S. bankruptcies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Growth Properties Inc, the second-largest U.S. mall owner, filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday as the credit crisis claimed its biggest real estate victim.

The company has assets of $29.56 billion and total debts of $27.29 billion, according to its bankruptcy petition. General Growth has warned since November that it may have to seek protection from its creditors because it was unable to refinance maturing mortgages.

The following is a list of the largest U.S. bankruptcies since 1980, according to court records and and the website BankruptcyData.com:

COMPANY/YEAR TOTAL ASSETS

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (2008) $639,000,000,000 *

WorldCom Inc (2002) 103,914,000,000

Enron Corp (2001) 63,392,000,000

Conseco Inc (2002) 61,392,000,000

Texaco Inc (1987) 35,892,000,000

Financial Corp of America (1988) 33,864,000,000

Refco Inc (2005) 33,333,172,000

Washington Mutual Inc (2008) 32,900,000,000 *

Global Crossing Ltd (2002) 30,185,000,000

Pacific Gas and Electric Co (2001) 29,770,000,000

General Growth Properties Inc (2009) 29,560,000,000 *

Lyondell Chemical Co (2009) 27,392,000,000

UAL Corp (2002) 25,197,000,000

Delta Air Lines Inc (2005) 21,801,000,000

Adelphia Communications Corp (2002) 21,499,000,000

MCorp (1989) 20,228,000,000

Mirant Corp (2003) 19,415,000,000

Delphi Corp (2005) 16,593,000,000

* - from court documents

(Reporting by Christopher Kaufman and Jonathan Stempel)