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How often are preferred shareholders made whole after a company goes bankrupt?
From the Times A Reader Q.&A. on G.M.’s Bankruptcy Q. I own G.M. preferred shares. Should I be looking to sell them, or   hold on? I bought them at $25 a share when they were issued in late   2001. — Karen, Manhattan A. When a company files for bankruptcy, its various stock and   bondholders essentially get in line. The first investors to be repaid   are secured debt holders, then senior bond investors, followed by   subordinated debt holders. Preferred shareholders are next, and   lastly, holders of common stock. In a bankruptcy, preferred shares are usually worthless, much like   shares of common stock. But in the case of G.M., there may be some   good — or at least somewhat better — news. Most of G.M.’s preferred   shares are actually senior notes or “quarterly interest bonds,” which   means you will be treated as a bondholder, according to Marilyn Cohen,   president of Envision Capital Management. So you will be able to   exchange your preferreds for G.M. stock (bondholders will receive 10   percent of the new company’s stock). It’s not the best deal, but it   beats the empty bag true preferred shareholders would have been left   holding. Of course this is just one example, and you were hoping to get some larger picture. The article stated "In a bankruptcy, preferred shares are usually worthless, much like shares of common stock" which at least is a bit closer to that, if you accept usually as a statistic.