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The dot-com casualty count seemed like headline fodder for weeks during the last few months of 2000. Now a new study confirms that nearly 60 percent of the dot-com deaths occurred during the fourth quarter of the year.

In total, 121 of the estimated 210 dot-com deaths in the year 2000 happened between October and December, as funding quickly began to dry up, according to a study by Webmergers.com released Wednesday. At least 40 Internet companies shut their doors during December, and another 46 called it quits in November.

Those shut down in December had received $1.5 billion in venture capital funding and other private and public investment dollars, the study reports. At least 25 percent of the December shutdowns are seeking to sell their assets or to reorganize through bankruptcy filings, Webmergers found.

Of the dot-com deaths, about 75 percent, or 157 companies, offered products or services for primarily a consumer audience. Another 21 percent had a business clientele, and the remainder had a blend of both.

E-commerce companies accounted for 109 shutdowns or just over half the total closures. Content properties made up 30 percent of the total deaths, while infrastructure and online service companies made up the remainder.

Webmergers reports that between 12,000 and 15,000 workers lost their jobs because of the company closures. Just more than 30 percent of the shutdowns took place in California, while New York and Massachusetts each accounted for nearly 10 percent of the dot-com closings. Western Europe took more than 11 percent of the brunt.

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