Hacker News Reader

Comment by tenpies | Hacker News Reader

Disagree, see: Martin Shkreli.

He was an outlier by a huge huge margin.

Specifically, what got him in trouble is probably his public persona as much as his actual crimes. Plus... he was stupid enough to violate the terms of his probation and got thrown into jail. I don't think most executives are anywhere as stupid.

You might argue that what kept Elizabeth Holmes out of trouble was her public persona as well. Neither case has the aroma of justice as far as I'm concerned.

Shkreli operated as, essentially, a lone wolf on the margins of the financial world. Holmes is completely enmeshed in the ruling political-financial-military nexus.

The weird thing is, the investors she scammed were all part of that nexus. Why aren't they more pissed at her?

I'm sure a lot of them are pissed at her, but that's the point. Being part of the ruling class means that if they're pissed at you, you get exiled to the fringe of the ruling class and have to live in the outer darkness of mere affluence instead of fantastic wealth and power. Not being part of it means that you get locked in a cage for a substantial portion of your remaining lifespan.

To use a crude analogy, if you're wronged, are you more likely to be vindictive if the transgressor is a close relative, or a complete stranger?

Shkreli was obnoxious and disrespectful. If he was polite and considerate, he would've gotten the slap on the wrist, guaranteed.

Shkreli was congenitally unable to simply shut the fuck up.

If he had simply closed his mouth for a while, I suspect he would have gotten a slap on the wrist.

Didn't he go to jail for trying to get someone to cut Hilary Clinton's hair?

His bail was revoked for offering $5000 for her hair with the follicle attached, but he had already been found guilty and was awaiting sentencing.

It was a last straw, not a sole offense.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com