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The article further explains: "HCQ is a cheap generic drug that was widely being given away for free Pharma firms don’t benefit much from picking one generic

The article further explains: "HCQ is a cheap generic drug that was widely being given away for free Pharma firms don’t benefit much from picking one generic over another Sanofi was never going to make meaningful money on Plaquenil The disclosures in question were already over a year out of date The disclosures actually show net sales of the Sanofi-related fund (More sourcing for all that here.) It wasn’t just Twitter that pointed out how misleading this framing was. So did Politifact. So did Vox. And The Washington Post did so rather scaldingly.

alex_young 6y ago
What is misleading about saying Trump “small personal financial interest”? That seems pretty clear cut and truthful.
- NDizzle 6y ago
  What do you think a “small personal financial interest” is to a billionaire?! A few million? A few hundred thousand?! Not less than $2k. C’mon man.
  - ajkjk 6y ago
    It... doesn't matter? The criticism that the statement is wrong isn't right if the statement isn't wrong.
    - btmorex 6y ago
      Because there's an obvious implication that Trump is pushing the drug because he has a financial interest in pushing the drug. But if his financial interest is so small that he stood to gain hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands at most, then implying he's doing it for financial reasons is extremely dishonest.
      - ajkjk 6y ago
        There's a big space between "implying he's doing it for financial reasons" and "reporting on the presence of a financial interest". It would be worse reporting to _omit_ the financial interest rather than include it.
        asdfasgasdgasdg 6y ago
        I probably have a proportional exposure to SNY via index funds as what Trump is reported to have, compared to his fortune. I would say that there would be very little value in reporting that interest in any context. Certainly it would tend to make most readers think that the financial interest may serve as an improper motivation, when there is no likelihood that that is the case.
    - NDizzle 6y ago
      It’s disingenuous and you know it.
- alasdair_ 6y ago
  Mr Trump also holds a “small financial interest” in the McDonalds Corporation, having once purchased a hamburger.
- donw 6y ago
  Imagine that Alice's net worth is an even billion dollars. Alice buys a tiny stake, $1000 or so, in ACME Industries. This is financially immaterial to Alice. It's 0.0001% of her net worth. But the purchase gives her access to all of the information which must be legally shared with investors, and is a common way investors keep tabs on publicly-traded companies. Now, imagine that Bob's net worth is $10,000. Alice's investment is equivalent to Bob investing a single penny in ACME Industries. The headline "Alice and Bob establish a small financial interest in ACME Industries" might be technically true in the most stringent sense, but it doesn't really align with how the phrase "financial interest" is used in common speech. It's not even relevant information about either Alice or Bob. This is one of those things that barely skates along the line of honesty. It's like a company that says "We Don't Sell Your Data!" in large type with a tiny asterisk on the end. When you read the fine print attached to said asterisk, there are all kinds of exceptions for "trusted partners" and "quality assurance". To all intents and purposes, that company does, in fact, sell your data. This just isn't how you establish or maintain trust.
  - athms 6y ago
    >But the purchase gives her access to all of the information which must be legally shared with investors...publicly-traded companies. Publicly traded companies must share this information with the public.
    - donw 6y ago
      Not all of it. As a shareholder, you get access to shareholder meetings (not public), can vote on certain issues raised by the board, etc.
  - kenjackson 6y ago
    I don’t know. The term “small” made it sound — small. You can argue the other points of the article, but this doesn’t seem like a real mischaracterization.

alex_young 6y ago

What is misleading about saying Trump “small personal financial interest”? That seems pretty clear cut and truthful.

NDizzle 6y ago
What do you think a “small personal financial interest” is to a billionaire?! A few million? A few hundred thousand?! Not less than $2k. C’mon man.
- ajkjk 6y ago
  It... doesn't matter? The criticism that the statement is wrong isn't right if the statement isn't wrong.
  - btmorex 6y ago
    Because there's an obvious implication that Trump is pushing the drug because he has a financial interest in pushing the drug. But if his financial interest is so small that he stood to gain hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands at most, then implying he's doing it for financial reasons is extremely dishonest.
    - ajkjk 6y ago
      There's a big space between "implying he's doing it for financial reasons" and "reporting on the presence of a financial interest". It would be worse reporting to _omit_ the financial interest rather than include it.
      - asdfasgasdgasdg 6y ago
        I probably have a proportional exposure to SNY via index funds as what Trump is reported to have, compared to his fortune. I would say that there would be very little value in reporting that interest in any context. Certainly it would tend to make most readers think that the financial interest may serve as an improper motivation, when there is no likelihood that that is the case.
  - NDizzle 6y ago
    It’s disingenuous and you know it.
alasdair_ 6y ago
Mr Trump also holds a “small financial interest” in the McDonalds Corporation, having once purchased a hamburger.
donw 6y ago
Imagine that Alice's net worth is an even billion dollars. Alice buys a tiny stake, $1000 or so, in ACME Industries. This is financially immaterial to Alice. It's 0.0001% of her net worth. But the purchase gives her access to all of the information which must be legally shared with investors, and is a common way investors keep tabs on publicly-traded companies. Now, imagine that Bob's net worth is $10,000. Alice's investment is equivalent to Bob investing a single penny in ACME Industries. The headline "Alice and Bob establish a small financial interest in ACME Industries" might be technically true in the most stringent sense, but it doesn't really align with how the phrase "financial interest" is used in common speech. It's not even relevant information about either Alice or Bob. This is one of those things that barely skates along the line of honesty. It's like a company that says "We Don't Sell Your Data!" in large type with a tiny asterisk on the end. When you read the fine print attached to said asterisk, there are all kinds of exceptions for "trusted partners" and "quality assurance". To all intents and purposes, that company does, in fact, sell your data. This just isn't how you establish or maintain trust.
- athms 6y ago
  >But the purchase gives her access to all of the information which must be legally shared with investors...publicly-traded companies. Publicly traded companies must share this information with the public.
  - donw 6y ago
    Not all of it. As a shareholder, you get access to shareholder meetings (not public), can vote on certain issues raised by the board, etc.
- kenjackson 6y ago
  I don’t know. The term “small” made it sound — small. You can argue the other points of the article, but this doesn’t seem like a real mischaracterization.