[hef19898]

So, I hold, I am super rich you know, 10% of Airbus. Now Airbus is fined billions by authorities for violating export control laws, engaged in bribery and other stuff. Some that was done by local sales entities. How exactly can I, even as one of the biggest shareholders, influence those operational daily decisions?

Also, you are aware of the idea of having limited liability companies?

[Ekaros]

Yes, your liability would be limited to whatever is the value of that 10%. Own a company that does bad enough thing, lose the whole holding in the company.

You could participate in electing a board. That elects CEO and other C-level that spend all their waking hours ensuring that no one in company breaks rules. I think that is absolutely reasonable thing to ask, specially with pay they are getting.

[hef19898]

Wow, that is a very interesting take on how limited liability and public companies work...

One corner stone of free societies is private ownership of enterprises. And that comes with the idea of shielding investors and owners from certain decisions of the comoany, which is a legal person apart from the legal person of the investor / owner...

[Ekaros]

Let's say company has stock price of 100. Then it kills million people. Court decides to set fine of 99%. Now the stock price stays the same, but next time holder of share sells it 99% of price goes as fine to society.

Their liability is limited to that 100. Just that next time they transact on the share they entirely justly lose most of it. As they did horrific job in controlling their property.

[hef19898]

So you propose punishing people whom have nothing to do with the crime? Interesting take on the rule of law, to say the least.

[Ekaros]

They owned the company that did the crime. They lose the company. Seems entirely fair for funding the crime...

[hef19898]

That's not even how criminal law works... If I borrow money to someone, that someone buys a gun with that money to rob a bank, I am, rightfully, not guilty of bank robbery or any other crime. Unless I borrowed the money knowing I funded a bank robbery, in which case I would be a co-conspirator. As a simple share owner, I am far from that. Heck, even as a majority shareholder I am far from that.

And by the way, if I am a memeber of the board and my management and I engange in anti-trust violations together, I am legally and criminally liable already under existing law. If I am a member of the board, and my management does something illegal without my knowledge, I am off the hook as well (again rightly so). If I engage in a cover up, well, then things change again (and again rightly so).

Some people have weird ideas about the rule of law is supposed to work in a democracy.