▲ 269 ▼ Uber hit with a nearly $1 billion fine for automatically deactivating drivers in Europe (www.engadget.com) submitted 2 months ago by sanitation@lemmy.today to c/technology@lemmy.world 8 comments fedilink hide all child comments
[–] chris@l.roofo.cc 27 points 2 months ago (5 children) I'd say $1 billion is not inconsequential. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 5 child comments replies: [–] Signtist@bookwyr.me 35 points 2 months ago That's the issue - 1 billion sounds like a big enough number. Most people hear it and think "Hah! Just desserts!" but it's not. They make so much money that even 1 billion is something they can easily ignore. The average person has such a poor grasp on just how much money is being accumulated that its easy to fool them into thinking a fine is far more damaging to the company than it is. permalink fedilink source parent [–] nucleative@lemmy.world 22 points 2 months ago (2 children) For a company whose business model is based on breaking the rules, fighting tooth and nail to gain influence, and eventually just paying the fines, I'd image they forecast this and decided the risk/reward was worth it. It's just 2% of annual revenue. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] JoeyJoeJoeJr@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 months ago (1 child) From the article: "This time around, the AP said that the 824.9 million euro fine was calculated as the maximum penalty that's derived from four percent of a company's worldwide annual turnover." Annual turnover is revenue, so top line money, before taxes, expenses, etc. They profited a little over $10 billion last year, so a nearly $1 billion fine is a little less than 10% of their profit. I wouldn't call it insignificant - as a percentage of profit, it's not bad. But when we're talking about billions, it's still probably not enough to get them to stop. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago As long as it's profit, not revenue, even 50% is little. Once it's revenue and they're in the red will the fine be more than a regular business expense. permalink fedilink source parent [–] jambudz@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 months ago 9% of annual profit. Inconsequential. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Signtist@bookwyr.me 35 points 2 months ago That's the issue - 1 billion sounds like a big enough number. Most people hear it and think "Hah! Just desserts!" but it's not. They make so much money that even 1 billion is something they can easily ignore. The average person has such a poor grasp on just how much money is being accumulated that its easy to fool them into thinking a fine is far more damaging to the company than it is. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] nucleative@lemmy.world 22 points 2 months ago (2 children) For a company whose business model is based on breaking the rules, fighting tooth and nail to gain influence, and eventually just paying the fines, I'd image they forecast this and decided the risk/reward was worth it. It's just 2% of annual revenue. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] JoeyJoeJoeJr@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 months ago (1 child) From the article: "This time around, the AP said that the 824.9 million euro fine was calculated as the maximum penalty that's derived from four percent of a company's worldwide annual turnover." Annual turnover is revenue, so top line money, before taxes, expenses, etc. They profited a little over $10 billion last year, so a nearly $1 billion fine is a little less than 10% of their profit. I wouldn't call it insignificant - as a percentage of profit, it's not bad. But when we're talking about billions, it's still probably not enough to get them to stop. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago As long as it's profit, not revenue, even 50% is little. Once it's revenue and they're in the red will the fine be more than a regular business expense. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] JoeyJoeJoeJr@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 months ago (1 child) From the article: "This time around, the AP said that the 824.9 million euro fine was calculated as the maximum penalty that's derived from four percent of a company's worldwide annual turnover." Annual turnover is revenue, so top line money, before taxes, expenses, etc. They profited a little over $10 billion last year, so a nearly $1 billion fine is a little less than 10% of their profit. I wouldn't call it insignificant - as a percentage of profit, it's not bad. But when we're talking about billions, it's still probably not enough to get them to stop. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 1 child comment replies: [–] unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago As long as it's profit, not revenue, even 50% is little. Once it's revenue and they're in the red will the fine be more than a regular business expense. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago As long as it's profit, not revenue, even 50% is little. Once it's revenue and they're in the red will the fine be more than a regular business expense. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] jambudz@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 months ago 9% of annual profit. Inconsequential. permalink fedilink source parent