• givesomefucks@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      31
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      It’s the same thing Brazil did.

      He’s rich enough that he’s kind of a parent corporation by himself, so:

      X was previously accused of violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), which could result in fines of up to 6 percent of total worldwide annual turnover. That fine would be levied on the “provider” of X, which could be defined to include other Musk-led firms.

      But yeah, American law has been limited so the buck stops at the company which declares bankruptcy and the money starts a new company.

      Not everyone else system is as shitty

  • reksas@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    38
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    fine the fucker for 20% of his net “worth”, that should give him some pause

  • pandapoo@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    That would be extra funny, considering at least some motivation behind his initially bidding on Twitter, was to cash out his absurdly overvalued Tesla stock, without causing it to crash.

    Clearly he signed that initial Delaware contract while he was still riding high on mania, but still, his desire to convert his overpriced Tesla stock played no small part. The remaining rationale was mostly drug-induced psychosis, but I digress.

    So, calculating fines based on his overpriced assets, forcing him to sell off a bunch of those shitty assets, and risking their price falling closer to their true worth, would be hilarious.

    It’s also why I am skeptical that they’ll do it, or at least I’m skeptical they’ll do it in a way that would trigger a domino effect, or market contagion.

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      For twitter, he actually isn’t. That was the original plan, but he moved away from it and got additional external financing, and then put up more cash himself by selling additional Tesla stock.

      Not sure about boring company / neuralink.

  • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Do it. The crimes are almost entirely by him personally, and had unprecedented damage. He should be responsible with all his money - a Twitter-sized blow would be a slap on the wrist as the platform is worth just $5B or thereabouts.

  • x00z@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    It’s finally time to hold the people hiding behind the companies accountable!!

    woohoo!

  • Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 year ago

    How about making them such a high percentage that it would genuinely impact their bottom line and not a measly amount calculated as “cost of doing business”

  • Skvlp@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    30
    ·
    1 year ago

    It’s easy to support when Elon is the recipient, but is this a good precedent to set?

    • GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      50
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Unironically, yes. You shouldn’t be able to shield your actions under a different corporate umbrella.

      “Oh, guess we can’t fine them much because Twitter is a money pit, so they’ll get to continue breaking the law for cheap”

      Nah, make the fine off of his entire net worth, make him cash in some of that stock so he can finally pay taxes and fines. Make it hurt enough for him to consider not breaking the laws of countries he wants to do business in.

      • tekato@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        Sounds good in principle, but isn’t the one of the main purposes of creating an LLC or Corporation to shield your personal assets from the company’s finances? Everyone cheers for these policies until you’re the one they’re coming for. I hope you’re as cheerful when the government wipes your personal bank account as consequence of your company’s affairs.

        • Zorque@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          1 year ago

          The problem is if we give major companies a way out, on the off chance that it might have a benefit for the little guy… those major companies end up stepping on the little guy anyway.

          So why let them shield themselves from the consequences of their action?

          • tekato@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            4
            ·
            1 year ago

            There’s no need to give a company a “way out”. The government can be as harsh as it wants to be within the limits of the law. But as soon as you start targeting the owner when he is supposed to be financially protected by the law, there are worse consequences in the long term. No matter how much they personally fine Elon, he has infinite money, this doesn’t really hurt him and I doubt he cares since he seems more focused in helping Trump win than helping X (or himself) succeed.

            • GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              4
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Gotta ask, what would you propose that would curb Elon from willfully committing crimes as he is?

              He continues to do so because he’s proven the system is broken as soon as someone is sufficiently wealthy. He fights the charges, then when that runs out he fights the amounts, and even when he does get his comeuppance to the tune of 44 billion, he’s an even bigger brat cause he finally got stood up to. Do you think that there’s a way to systematically even the playing field?

              • tekato@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                arrow-down
                3
                ·
                1 year ago

                Gotta ask, what would you propose that would curb Elon from willfully committing crimes as he is?

                I’m not a lawmaker so I don’t know. And it hasn’t been dealt with by those who are because it’s not an easy decision. But the solution can’t possibly be allowing governments to damage the owner’s personal finances for choices at the company level. Truth is you can’t open this road for Elon Musk and never use it again, because that’s never how it goes down. If this is allowed to happen, more people will be unwilling to open businesses because the only protection that they’re supposed to have can be completely ignored by the government. Governments are as predatory as mega corporations, and neither can be given too much power. This takes away power from the companies and gives it to the government, not the average citizen.

                Do you think that there’s a way to systematically even the playing field?

                I don’t know, and nobody else knows.

                • GrundlButter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  I don’t think I quite agree about governments being predatory by nature. I think they can be, have been in the past, and safeguards and checks and balances need to be there to prevent it. But generally a democratically elected government is beneficial, albeit flawed. Often reactive rather than proactive, but not commonly bloodthirsty. I mean, they often can’t even jail executives for criminal decisions or negligence.

                  In Elon’s case, I do believe governments around the world are going to have to adapt to protect their citizens from popular, but provably false and dangerous propaganda, as well as protect their privacy in the EU’s case.

                  Also, I agree, we both aren’t lawmakers. So for now I will just have to cheer any attempt at adaptation, and hope that their solution is functional and passes scrutiny.

                • MimicJar@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  To clarify the cost of creating an LLC is a hundred bucks more or less depending on the jurisdiction. So Elon should be allowed to create “Musk Corp Oct2024 LLC” and then say or do anything under the guise of Musk Corp Oct2024 LLC, then if he’s sued or fined just declare bankruptcy and create “Musk Corp Nov2024 LLC” and do whatever he wants?

                  At some point you have to recognize the individual is at fault. You can’t just hide behind “Oh that wasn’t me, that was the company” or " That was Musk of SpaceX having an opinion of Musk of Tesla, they are different entities."

                  If someone is attempting to be genuine and truthful when it comes to personal statements, fine, we can consider the protections. But if someone is flagrant and malicious then those protections no longer apply.

        • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          isn’t the one of the main purposes of creating an LLC or Corporation to shield your personal assets from the company’s finances?

          It is but it is not written in stone for all eternity. If people are abusing this law, like Musk, then it gets amended or rewritten.

        • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          LLCs shouldn’t exist in the first place.

          A companys owner should always be liable for the laws its company breaks.

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          Give it up. Lemmy thinks “corporation” means “megacorp”, has no clue about financial dealings outside what they read in the headlines and can’t spell “LLC”.

          “Capitalism BAD!”, is what you should be posting.

          • barsoap@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Allowing limited liability companies to exist without requiring them to be covered by liability insurance is institutionalised market failure.

    • toothpaste_sandwich@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 year ago

      Why not? Which person owning multiple companies would be disadvantaged in a way that could be considered unfair in this way?

    • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Shipping companies setup separate LLC’s for their ships so of they have an accident the ship goes bankrupt and they keep their profits shielded… that kind of stuff is bullshit

      • tekato@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yes. Like every system, there are those who abuse it. But you must be careful so that while trying to punish those abusers, you don’t end up creating avenues to also punish those who don’t abuse the system, but simply make a mistake. This sets a precedent so that the government can target the assets of the owner of the company if they’re not satisfied the company punishment, which doesn’t sound as cool when the company in question is your family’s bakery or your neighbor’s paralegal office.