There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this. It depends on the amount of assets the company has, how much it owes to creditors and senior investors, and what the company's post-bankruptcy plans are.When a company files for bankruptcy, its creditors have the first claim to any of its assets. In other words, when inventories are liquidated or a company's real estate is sold off, the creditors (such as bondholders) get to recoup their investment first.