You've seen thousands of Getty photos without noticing. Red carpets, football goals, presidents mid-sneeze. On 21 October 2026, Getty Images filed for Chapter 11, the US bankruptcy process, for part of its American business.
Don't picture the lights going out, though. This is a “prepackaged” bankruptcy: the big lenders agreed the plan before anything was filed. Getty says photographers, customers and staff shouldn't notice a thing.
The short version
Getty owed about $1.46 billion. The plan wipes out more than $500 million of it. The Getty family and Koch Equity Development are putting in up to $533 million and will own the company, so it leaves the stock market. Today's shareholders get nothing.
So what went wrong?
**A wedding that got called off.** Getty planned to merge with its big rival Shutterstock in a deal worth about $3.7 billion. Then the UK competition watchdog stepped in, and the deal fell apart. By then Getty had borrowed $628 million at 10.5% interest and spent over $100 million on fees. Expensive engagement.
**Debt that ate the business.** By the filing, Getty owed about $239 million a year just in debt costs, more than the business was bringing in, with around $50 million in the bank.
**AI.** Fewer people are buying photos. Paying customers fell about 24% since 2022, and Getty's own filing points at generative AI. Some people who used to buy a stock photo of “happy team in office” now just type it into an AI and get one.
What now?
More than 600,000 photographers sell through Getty, and their contracts carry on. A court hearing is set for 14 December, and Getty hopes to be out by New Year.
Getty isn't disappearing. Somebody still has to be there when the striker scores. A machine can't fake that moment. Yet.