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As much as I hate to point it out, it’s not so simple. He had a legally enforceable mandate to maximize shareholder value. There’s some wiggle room in how that

As much as I hate to point it out, it’s not so simple. He had a legally enforceable mandate to maximize shareholder value. There’s some wiggle room in how that’s accomplished, but not as much as it seems from the outside. That does make him, much as I hate to say it, a small cog.

throw0101d 2y ago
> He had a legally enforceable mandate to maximize shareholder value. [citation needed] There is no legal basis for this: * https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2012/06/26/the-shareholder-value-myth/ https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2012/06/26/the-shareholder-v... * https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/09/how-the-cult-of-shareholder-value-wrecked-american-business/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd=&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/09/how-t... * https://evonomics.com/maximizing-shareholder-value-dumbest-idea/ https://evonomics.com/maximizing-shareholder-value-dumbest-i... It is simply one view that just happened to become popular during the Reagan years and has continued on: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine And while we're at it, shareholders are not the owners of a corporation: * https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/12/who-actually-owns-corporations-anyway https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/12/who-actually-own...
revscat 2y ago
[flagged]
- cadamsau 2y ago
  Justice is subjective. What is a crime is subjective. Hence we have laws - an eternal, never perfect project to find an agreed definition of justice. Abandoning centuries of precedent of law happens in some places from time to time and they’re not places you’d live by choice.
  - revscat 2y ago
    [dead]
sumeno 2y ago
Wow, it really is a shame he was forced into this job and had no agency.
- cadamsau 2y ago
  Nature abhors a vacuum. If not this dude, would’ve been someone else.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
mingus88 2y ago
It’s funny to me that so often on HN we have discussions about making ethical choices in who we work for and which projects we contribute to, yet the sentiment on this CEO is honestly the most sympathetic I have seen in any comment section He chose to take the role. He profited from it massively and did more to perpetuate it than any other single individual at the company. If we were talking about a developer who was writing software for drone bombs wiping out families, yeah maybe that’s a cog. But still there would be no shortage of judgement on that choice of profession It’s plainly obvious that insurance companies are not good faith actors working to help people. They lobbied for this system, they are the beneficiaries of it, and they are reaping what they’ve sown
cocacola1 2y ago
But from the assassins point of view, the system is abstract (therefore unshootable) while Brian Thompson was a man (therefore shootable).
sundaeofshock 2y ago
There is no legal mandate to maximize shareholder value. That’s just an excuse used to justify sociopathic behavior. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shareholder-value.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shareholder-value.asp

throw0101d 2y ago

> He had a legally enforceable mandate to maximize shareholder value. [citation needed] There is no legal basis for this: * https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2012/06/26/the-shareholder-value-myth/ https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2012/06/26/the-shareholder-v... * https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/09/how-the-cult-of-shareholder-value-wrecked-american-business/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd=&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/09/how-t... * https://evonomics.com/maximizing-shareholder-value-dumbest-idea/ https://evonomics.com/maximizing-shareholder-value-dumbest-i... It is simply one view that just happened to become popular during the Reagan years and has continued on: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine And while we're at it, shareholders are not the owners of a corporation: * https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/12/who-actually-owns-corporations-anyway https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/12/who-actually-own...

revscat 2y ago

[flagged]

cadamsau 2y ago
Justice is subjective. What is a crime is subjective. Hence we have laws - an eternal, never perfect project to find an agreed definition of justice. Abandoning centuries of precedent of law happens in some places from time to time and they’re not places you’d live by choice.
- revscat 2y ago
  [dead]

sumeno 2y ago

Wow, it really is a shame he was forced into this job and had no agency.

cadamsau 2y ago
Nature abhors a vacuum. If not this dude, would’ve been someone else.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

mingus88 2y ago

It’s funny to me that so often on HN we have discussions about making ethical choices in who we work for and which projects we contribute to, yet the sentiment on this CEO is honestly the most sympathetic I have seen in any comment section He chose to take the role. He profited from it massively and did more to perpetuate it than any other single individual at the company. If we were talking about a developer who was writing software for drone bombs wiping out families, yeah maybe that’s a cog. But still there would be no shortage of judgement on that choice of profession It’s plainly obvious that insurance companies are not good faith actors working to help people. They lobbied for this system, they are the beneficiaries of it, and they are reaping what they’ve sown

cocacola1 2y ago

But from the assassins point of view, the system is abstract (therefore unshootable) while Brian Thompson was a man (therefore shootable).

sundaeofshock 2y ago

There is no legal mandate to maximize shareholder value. That’s just an excuse used to justify sociopathic behavior. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shareholder-value.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shareholder-value.asp