3 ms·

Enron wasn’t a regular business caught committing crimes. The entire thing was fraud. There was no business left to operate. Same as Theranos. It was fraud. I

by graeme 3y ago

Enron wasn’t a regular business caught committing crimes. The entire thing was fraud. There was no business left to operate. Same as Theranos. It was fraud. It is a massive mistake to conflate stuff regular companies do which may be illegal or distasteful, with companies that are entirely fraudulent.

p-e-w 3y ago
Almost every Diesel vehicle Volkswagen produced for many years was fraud. The company designed those vehicles, with criminal intent, to deceive regulators (and customers!) into believing the product was something that it actually wasn't. How is that different from what Theranos did? Theranos fraudulently claimed their blood test was capable of quantifying various factors. It wasn't. Volkswagen fraudulently claimed their cars were capable of meeting emissions standards. They weren't. Yet Volkswagen is still allowed to operate, even though their business ran on fraud for a long time.
- ajmurmann 3y ago
  VW's cars existed and were drivable. In fact owners of their cars were probably pretty happy with the product they had purchased till the scandal emerged. Theranos' product never worked in any way that anyone, consumer or regulator would have deemed acceptable. VW has other products than their diesel cars. Theranos had nothing but the non-functioning diagnostic.
George83728 3y ago
> Enron wasn’t a regular business caught committing crimes. The entire thing was fraud. There was no business left to operate. This isn't true. Read The Smartest Guys in the Room. Enron started out as a real company and slowly became increasingly fraudulent with time.
- graeme 3y ago
  Well yes. But what I meant was that at the time it collapsed, it was all fraud. There was no real business profitable business to continue. Fraud was what it did by the end.

3 ms·

Enron wasn’t a regular business caught committing crimes. The entire thing was fraud. There was no business left to operate. Same as Theranos. It was fraud. I

by graeme 3y ago

p-e-w 3y ago
Almost every Diesel vehicle Volkswagen produced for many years was fraud. The company designed those vehicles, with criminal intent, to deceive regulators (and customers!) into believing the product was something that it actually wasn't. How is that different from what Theranos did? Theranos fraudulently claimed their blood test was capable of quantifying various factors. It wasn't. Volkswagen fraudulently claimed their cars were capable of meeting emissions standards. They weren't. Yet Volkswagen is still allowed to operate, even though their business ran on fraud for a long time.
- ajmurmann 3y ago
  VW's cars existed and were drivable. In fact owners of their cars were probably pretty happy with the product they had purchased till the scandal emerged. Theranos' product never worked in any way that anyone, consumer or regulator would have deemed acceptable. VW has other products than their diesel cars. Theranos had nothing but the non-functioning diagnostic.
George83728 3y ago
> Enron wasn’t a regular business caught committing crimes. The entire thing was fraud. There was no business left to operate. This isn't true. Read The Smartest Guys in the Room. Enron started out as a real company and slowly became increasingly fraudulent with time.
- graeme 3y ago
  Well yes. But what I meant was that at the time it collapsed, it was all fraud. There was no real business profitable business to continue. Fraud was what it did by the end.