A judge does have the power to bankrupt a corporation with fines. I've heard of a judge double sentencing in minutes based on the defendant's behavior: http://

A judge does have the power to bankrupt a corporation with fines. I've heard of a judge double sentencing in minutes based on the defendant's behavior: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/10/23/judge-allowed-to-double-laughing-defendants-sentence-court-rules http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/10/23/judge-allowed... The crime of criminal damage to Hogan (future income) would have dented Gawker's coffers but it is the refusal to obey a court order that did them in. The judge might have stayed her hand or advised the jury differently if they showed contrition but that clearly didn't happen. They didn't win appeal either, showing consensus of that view. Whether judges should have powers of discretion is another topic but it is generally held to be a positive thing. You may be sure there is a full accounting of which actions defined the 140 million dollar fine in court documents. So far the broad strokes are: "The breakdown of Hogan’s award is $55 million for economic damages, $60 million for emotional distress and $25.1 million in punitive damages." Perhaps I am less shocked by the sentence than yourself because I used to live near characters like this one: http://www.murderpedia.org/female.O/o/oconnor-catherine.htm http://www.murderpedia.org/female.O/o/oconnor-catherine.htm Probably not a good idea to know too many people on murderpedia.org. Compared to that this is nothing. It's just rich people fighting. Nick Denton is still probably the owner of about 100 million dollars after his 10 million dollar fine and Gawker going bust. It's his pride and reputation damage to his business acumen that is suffering more so than his wallet. I have limited sympathy for such characters. Thiel on the other hand deserves a standing ovation for use of tactics and strategy. That was quite the judo flip! More important in the future is whether Denton will be able to accept defeat sanguinely and move onto something else. Pitching a cadre of journalists against Silicon Valley will not end well for the press. The politician repercussions would not ultimately go in their favor and I don't believe they understand that yet. They invariably confuse the rules of their social reality with ours, but we have nothing in common.