Wire rope in elevators can become disconnected by tensile stress from friction between the rope and sheave, and by repeated stress including bending stress from various effects formed during contact between the rope and sheave. It is known that in designing wire rope, its strength is affected when wire disconnection occurs. However, insufficient related data is available. Therefore, fracture strength reduction and the effect of bending fatigue on wire rope life is difficult to evaluate. We considered the effects of wire rope diameter and tensile stress on fracture strength and wire rope life. We observed that fracture strength rapidly decreased when bending fatigue accumulated at the same time that the wire became disconnected. Moreover, bending fatigue was shown to be a crucial factor in decreased wire rope life.