Class action lawsuits have recovered hundreds of billions of dollars for consumers, investors, and communities. Some of these cases have reshaped entire industries, forced companies to change dangerous practices, and put real money in the pockets of millions of people.
Here are the 20 largest class action and mass litigation settlements in history, ranked by total value. For each one, we cover what happened, how much was paid, and — most importantly — how much individuals actually received. For background on the legal process behind these cases, see our guide on how class action lawsuits work.
The short answer
The largest is the $206 billion Tobacco Master Settlement of 1998 — and not one penny of it went to an individual smoker. It was a deal between 46 state attorneys general and the tobacco industry, paid to state governments over 25 years.
If you mean the largest that actually paid individual people, that is Volkswagen: of its $14.7 billion, the EPA puts up to $10.03 billion into buybacks and compensation for the owners of 11 million rigged diesels. The biggest securities class action is Enron, at $7.24 billion.
And if you are here because you want to know what a person receives from one of these: Equifax is the honest answer. A headline fund of up to $425 million, 147 million people affected, a widely advertised $125 cash option — and checks that landed at about $6. The gap between the two numbers is the single most useful thing on this page, and it is explained below.
The headline numbers, in one place
| Largest of any kind | $206bn — Tobacco, 1998 (paid to states) |
| Largest that paid individuals | $14.7bn — Volkswagen, 2016 (up to $10.03bn to owners) |
| Largest securities class action | $7.24bn — Enron, 2006 |
| Largest antitrust class action | $5.54bn — payment card interchange, 2019 |
| Best per-person outcome here | $5,100–$10,000 plus a buyback — Volkswagen |
| Most typical per-person outcome | Under $50 |
The largest settlements that actually paid individuals
Ranked by fund size. The column that matters is the fourth one.
| # | Settlement | Fund | What a person actually got | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volkswagen “Dieselgate” Defeat-device software in 11 million diesels | $14.7bn 2016 | $5,100–$10,000 per owner on top of a buyback at pre-scandal value. Up to $10.03bn of the fund went to owners; the rest was an environmental trust and charging infrastructure | Closed |
| 2 | Enron Securities fraud; the largest securities class action ever | $7.24bn 2006 | Roughly 1.5 million investors shared it, pro rata by losses proved — recoveries ran to cents on the dollar of what was lost | Closed |
| 3 | WorldCom Revenue overstated by billions | $6.1bn 2005 | Paid to investors pro rata against documented losses | Closed |
| 4 | Payment Card Interchange Visa/Mastercard swipe fees; the largest antitrust class action ever | $5.54bn 2019 | Merchants, not consumers — a share proportional to card volume 2004–2019 | Closed |
| 5 | Fen-Phen diet drugs Heart-valve damage | $3.75bn 2000 | Tiered by injury: a few thousand dollars for monitoring, up to seven figures for severe valve damage | Closed |
| 6 | Tyco Investors misled about profits | $3.2bn 2007 | Paid to shareholders pro rata | Closed |
| 7 | Toyota unintended acceleration Economic loss from resale value | $1.6bn 2013 | Roughly $125–$10,000 depending on model and whether a brake-override retrofit applied | Closed |
| 8 | LCD price-fixing Panel makers fixed screen prices | $1.1bn 2012 | Consumers who bought a TV or monitor got a small fixed sum, typically under $50 | Closed |
| 9 | NFL concussion CTE and head-injury concealment | $1bn+ 2017 | $75,000 to $4 million for a qualifying diagnosis, scaled by age at onset. Uncapped, and still paying out | Still paying |
| 10 | Equifax 147 million people's data exposed | up to $425m 2019 | About $6–$7. The $125 cash option drew from a $31m pool — enough for ~248,000 people, under 1% of the class | Closed Jan 2024 |
| 11 | T-Mobile 76 million customers' data exposed | $350m 2022 | About $25, or $100 in California; up to $25,000 for documented losses | Closed |
Bigger numbers that did not go to individuals
These dominate every “largest settlements” list, and they are real. But they were paid to governments, utilities or businesses, or resolved claim-by-claim as mass torts rather than as a class. Knowing which is which is the difference between expecting a check and understanding a news headline.
| # | Settlement | Fund | What a person actually got | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tobacco Master Settlement 46 states sued the major tobacco companies | $206bn 1998 | Nothing. It was a state attorneys-general settlement; the money went to state governments over 25 years | n/a |
| 2 | BP Deepwater Horizon The 2010 Gulf oil spill | $20.8bn 2016 | Mostly government penalties and payments to Gulf states. Affected businesses and residents recovered separately, commonly $5,000–$25,000 | Closed |
| 3 | 3M PFAS drinking water “Forever chemicals” in public water | $10.3bn 2023 | Nothing directly. It funds testing and filtration by public water utilities | Paying out |
| 4 | Roundup / Monsanto Glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma | $10bn+ 2020– | A mass tort, settled claim by claim — tens of thousands to millions, by illness and evidence | Ongoing |
| 5 | 3M combat earplugs Defective military earplugs | $6bn 2023 | A mass tort covering ~260,000 veterans; individual awards scaled by hearing damage | Paying out |
| 6 | Wells Fargo fake accounts Millions of unauthorized accounts | $3bn+ 2020 | Chiefly a Justice Department and regulatory penalty. The separate customer class action returned roughly $30–$100 a head | Closed |
Two famous figures that never became settlements
Both appear on other “largest settlements” lists, including an earlier version of this page. A court rejected each one.
- Johnson & Johnson talc, ~$9 billion. J&J tried to resolve tens of thousands of ovarian-cancer claims by putting a subsidiary into bankruptcy. On 31 March 2025 Judge Christopher López dismissed the Red River Talc Chapter 11, faulting the voting process and the releases it sought for third parties who had not consented. The plan is void; the claims went back to the courts.
- Visa and Mastercard swipe fees, $30 billion. Judge Margo Brodie refused preliminary approval on 25 June 2024, calling the roughly $6 billion of annual merchant savings “paltry” against the $100 billion merchants paid in interchange in 2023. A revised deal was proposed in November 2025. The one that did pay is the $5.54 billion settlement above.
Why the per-person figure is so much smaller
Four things stand between a headline fund and your check, and Equifax shows all four at once.
- The fund is not all for you. Notice, administration, expenses, service awards and attorneys’ fees come out first. In Equifax the court awarded class counsel $77.5 million.
- Sub-funds have their own caps. The advertised $125 was drawn from a $31 million allocation — enough to pay about 248,000 people in full out of a class of 147 million.
- Everything is pro rata. More claimants means a smaller share each. The FTC took the unusual step of publicly warning Equifax claimants they would be disappointed.
- Class size beats fund size. Volkswagen paid individuals well because the class was 475,000 cars, not 147 million people. A smaller settlement split fewer ways is worth more to you than a famous one.
This is why the useful question is not “how big is the fund” but “how many people is it divided among, and what do I have to prove”. For settlements you can claim today without receipts, see our ranking of the largest no-proof settlements; this page is about the record books.
What you can actually claim right now
Every settlement on this page is closed or is a mass tort you cannot simply file into. Open settlements are tracked on our live settlements list, which is checked against the court filing and the administrator’s own site before anything is added.
Reviewed by the Class Action Buddy team · last verified 7 August 2026.
Securities rankings are checked against the ISS SCAS Top 100 US class action settlements of all time. The Equifax figures come from the FTC’s own settlement page and the court-authorized administrator; the NFL tiers from the official settlement site; BP from the Department of Justice; and Volkswagen from the EPA.
An earlier version of this page listed the J&J talc and 2024 Visa/Mastercard deals as completed settlements, ranked seventh and ninth. Both had been rejected by the courts. They are now in their own section, described as what they are.
We build claim-filing software, so the pattern we see is this: the settlements people ask us about are the famous ones, and the famous ones are almost always closed. The money that is actually claimable is in unglamorous cases — a supplement, a router, a data breach at a company you forgot you used. Class Action Buddy is a self-service tool that helps you complete and submit official claim forms. It is not a law firm, does not give legal advice, and does not file on your behalf.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the largest class action settlement in history?
The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, at $206 billion over 25 years. But it paid state governments, not individual smokers, and it was an agreement between 46 state attorneys general and the tobacco industry rather than a class action in the ordinary sense. The largest settlement that actually paid individuals is Enron, at $7.24 billion.
What is the biggest class action payout per person?
Volkswagen's diesel emissions settlement is the standout: owners received $5,100 to $10,000 each on top of a buyback at the car's pre-scandal value. That happened because the class was about 475,000 vehicles rather than tens of millions of people. Most large consumer settlements pay under $50 a head.
How much did people actually get from the Equifax settlement?
About $6 to $7. The settlement offered a $125 cash alternative, but that option drew from a pool capped at $31 million, which would have paid roughly 248,000 people in full out of a class of 147 million. After the court awarded $77.5 million in attorneys' fees, the cash payments fell to single digits. The FTC took the unusual step of publicly warning claimants they would be disappointed.
Did Johnson and Johnson settle the baby powder lawsuits?
No. J&J tried to resolve tens of thousands of ovarian-cancer claims for roughly $9 billion by placing a subsidiary into bankruptcy, but on 31 March 2025 Judge Christopher Lopez dismissed the Red River Talc Chapter 11 case. He faulted the voting process and the releases the plan sought for third parties who had not agreed to them. The claims returned to the courts, so there is no completed talc settlement to claim from.
What is the largest lawsuit in US history?
By dollar value it is the tobacco settlement at $206 billion. Among single-defendant cases, BP paid $20.8 billion over the Deepwater Horizon spill, though most of that was government penalties and payments to Gulf states rather than money for individuals.
Why do huge settlements pay so little per person?
Four things come between the fund and your payment: notice and administration costs, attorneys' fees and service awards, caps on particular sub-funds, and pro rata division among everyone who files. Class size matters more than fund size. A $500 million fund split among 10 million people is $50 each before any of those deductions.
Are any of the settlements on this list still open?
No. Every settlement ranked here has closed to new claims, and the mass torts are resolved claim by claim through lawyers rather than by filing a form. Settlements that are genuinely open are tracked on our live settlements list.