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Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

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Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#141

Post by hef19898 »

hermannj314 wrote: post #133
hef19898 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A merger, all cash, could work. Or a stock buy-back. Or all kinds of shennenigans. Within limits so, at a certain point it becomes fraud.

Accounting confuses me. I thought both of those would only be asset transfers and not hit income statement I guess the EPS line would be impacted in a stock buy back, and that is on the income statement. I know companies play games with good will write-downs in the years after a merger.

Accounting is confusing, and I am dar from an expert. Some basic knowledge is extremely helpful so, IMHO. It explains a ton of things happebing in a company, and being able to read your employers balance sheet, if you work for a public company, is eye opening sometimes.

Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#142

Post by anticorporate »

Chris2048 wrote: post #131
anticorporate wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it were effective, we wouldn't all endure daily GDPR violations. But we do.

Non-enforcement is a different issue to fines being too low.

They're related, though. A portion of fines fund enforcement activity. (IMHO, a higher portion should go to enforcement. Right now way too much goes into general funds.)

Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#143

Post by [deleted] »

hef19898 wrote: post #122
hermannj314 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what situations does a Capex hit the income statement? I thought only depreciation or amortization would hit profitability.

A merger, all cash, could work. Or a stock buy-back. Or all kinds of shennenigans. Within limits so, at a certain point it becomes fraud.

[deleted]

Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#144

Post by Ekaros »

hef19898 wrote: post #108
Ekaros wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's say company has stock price of 100. Then it kills million people. Court decides to set fine of 99%. Now the stock price stays the same, but next time holder of share sells it 99% of price goes as fine to society. Their liability is limited to that 100. Just that next time they transact on the share they entirely justly lose most of it. As they did horrific job in controlling their property.

So you propose punishing people whom have nothing to do with the crime? Interesting take on the rule of law, to say the least.

They owned the company that did the crime. They lose the company. Seems entirely fair for funding the crime...

Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#145

Post by hef19898 »

Ekaros wrote: post #144
hef19898 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you propose punishing people whom have nothing to do with the crime? Interesting take on the rule of law, to say the least.

They owned the company that did the crime. They lose the company. Seems entirely fair for funding the crime...

That's not even how criminal law works... If I borrow money to someone, that someone buys a gun with that money to rob a bank, I am, rightfully, not guilty of bank robbery or any other crime. Unless I borrowed the money knowing I funded a bank robbery, in which case I would be a co-conspirator. As a simple share owner, I am far from that. Heck, even as a majority shareholder I am far from that.

And by the way, if I am a memeber of the board and my management and I engange in anti-trust violations together, I am legally and criminally liable already under existing law. If I am a member of the board, and my management does something illegal without my knowledge, I am off the hook as well (again rightly so). If I engage in a cover up, well, then things change again (and again rightly so).

Some people have weird ideas about the rule of law is supposed to work in a democracy.

Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#146

Post by u32480932048 »

kmlx wrote: post #38

from the article: > As of seven days and three hours into 2024, they had already earned enough revenue to pay it all off. revenue is not the same as profit. this is basic stuff. from the same article: > Still, revenue is a more accurate depiction of a company’s size and profitability. it seems like this is rookie hour. then we look at the author's previous posts: https://proton.me/blog/big-tech-ipef With new trade de…

Per some ads I vaguely recall, Proton seems to be positioning itself as a super sekure place where the gubment can't spy on you; Big Tech Bad seems to be a no-brainer SEO blog theme.

Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#147

Post by Terretta »

pc86 wrote: post #115
HumblyTossed wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > As of seven days and three hours into 2024, they had already earned enough revenue to pay it all off. > revenue is not the same as profit. this is basic stuff. And all of "Big Tech" isn't going to run and pay off their 2023 fines this week either. It's an illustration. This is basic stuff.

I'm sorry but the moment you say "revenue is a more accurate depiction of a company's...profitability [than profit]" you've lost all credibility.

on the contrary, profit is an accounting treatment

see amazon, who famously strive to show no profit by plowing profits back into growth expense

so return (aggregate all forms) on equity, and revenue, are more interesting, since one gives you vector and the other gives you scale.

so it's one of those statements that seems right, then seems wrong, then seems right again, depending on your level of thinking about it

// making no claims about the blogger, they could be in the first camp rather than the third

Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#149

Post by bilekas »

postingawayonhn wrote: post #42
bilekas wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This SHOULD be the way as they are the ones who stand to gain the most. They should be the ones who lose the most if the actions of their responsibilities are nefarious.

It would make it incredibly risky to be a non-management shareholder.

But in turn it would incentivize some better practices to avoid risks of fines.. It wouldn't be risky if companies didn't act maliciously and ignore regulations etc.

Re: Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines

#150

Post by Chris2048 »

arp242 wrote: post #103
Chris2048 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not higher fines? % of profit that increases each time?

I just prefer personal accountability because it seems a fair and just way to organize things. These things don't happen as a force of nature: it's someone (or a bunch of people) making a decision, and then someone (or several people) implementing it. If I scam someone in my brick and mortar store with fake products I will be held personally responsible as the owner, and rightfully so. And if other people knowingly p…

But it'll likely conflict directly with personal freedoms.

Plus what's the logic behind the most draconian of implementations? - If we can hold Bezos to account, why not every AMAZON shareholder?

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