Five crises between 2016 and 2026 changed how companies respond: Wells Fargo showed that new disclosures compound old damage, Uber that an outside review can force a leadership change, Silicon Valley Bank that trust leaves faster than approvals, CrowdStrike that a company must say what an incident was not, and Alarum that a pledge to cooperate does not answer what happens to the business.
By Ronn Torossian. Last updated: October 28, 2026. Every date and figure is attributed to a named source in the sentence that uses it.
| Case | Year | What it changed |
|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo | 2016 | Disclosures must be resolved in order, not stacked |
| Uber | 2017 | An outside review with published recommendations |
| Silicon Valley Bank | 2023 | Contact the largest depositors before the public |
| CrowdStrike | 2024 | Say what happened, what it was not and what to do |
| Alarum | 2026 | Say what happens to operations, not only that you will cooperate |
What did Wells Fargo change about disclosure?
Wells Fargo changed the expectation that a company discloses a problem once and moves on. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that employees opened more than two million deposit and credit card accounts that may not have been authorized, and it fined the bank $100 million in September 2016, according to the Associated Press.
The practical lesson on this site's reading is that a trust failure compounds when new disclosures arrive before the old ones are resolved. A company that expects more findings should say so at the start and set a date for the next update.
What did Uber change about internal investigations?
Uber made the outside review a public step. After former engineer Susan Fowler's February 2017 blog post, Uber hired the law firm of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and the board voted unanimously to adopt all 47 of its recommendations, according to Reuters as published by Fortune and The Drive.
Chief Executive Travis Kalanick resigned on June 21, 2017, eight days after the report, per Reuters. A company that commissions a review should expect the review to reach the question of who leads.
What did Silicon Valley Bank change about speed?
Silicon Valley Bank showed that the audiences holding the most money move first. On March 8, 2023, the bank announced a $1.8 billion securities loss and a plan to raise $2.25 billion in capital, according to Fortune. On March 9, customers tried to withdraw about $42 billion, per a California regulatory filing reported by Fortune and CNBC, and regulators took control the next day.
The decision this forces is who hears first. A firm should know which clients can move the most money and speak to them before a public announcement. The Silicon Valley Bank case and the financial services PR guide cover it in detail.
What did CrowdStrike change about incident statements?
CrowdStrike set a pattern for the first statement of a technical failure: what happened, what it was not and what customers should do. On July 19, 2024, a sensor configuration update released at 04:09 UTC affected about 8.5 million Windows devices, less than 1 percent of all Windows machines, according to Microsoft's estimate as reported by Intelligent CIO.
Chief Executive George Kurtz ruled out a cyberattack, which answered the first question customers asked, and CrowdStrike reported that more than 97 percent of Windows sensors were back online within about a week, per CBS News. BankInfoSecurity reported that a small goodwill gesture drew criticism, a reminder that the remedy has to match the loss. The tech PR guide and the cybersecurity PR guide cover the incident side.
What did Alarum change about pledging cooperation?
Alarum showed that a promise to cooperate does not tell the market what happens to the business. On July 2, 2026, Alarum Technologies disclosed that the FBI had seized domains tied to its subsidiary NetNut, per securities-law firm notices, and its own statement pledged full cooperation with law enforcement, according to Quiver.
The shares closed at $8.02 on July 1 and $3.08 on July 6, as reported in the same notices, and Ynet reported a 71.3 percent fall on the Tel Aviv exchange. A statement in that position should say what the company is doing about operations, customers and disclosure. The PR crisis examples page and the crisis communications case study library hold more cases with the same structure.
Frequently asked questions
Which PR scandal changed corporate practice the most?
No single case settles which scandal changed corporate practice the most, because each of the five cases changed a different response habit. Wells Fargo changed how disclosures are sequenced, and Silicon Valley Bank changed who a company contacts first.
How fast should a company respond to a scandal?
A company should respond fast enough to reach the audiences with the most at stake before the public does. Silicon Valley Bank saw about $42 billion in attempted withdrawals within one day of its announcement, according to Fortune and CNBC.
Does an apology end a PR scandal?
An apology closes one chapter of a PR scandal, but concrete operational action decides the next outcome. The corporate apology guide covers what a strong apology contains.
A company that has not decided who it tells first, what it says an incident was not, and what happens to the business has not finished its crisis plan.