Can I incorporate myself, name myself CEO & go on a crime spree & get away with it?

It seems if a person is a CEO they can do anything they want with zero liability. They don't even have to know what's going on in their companies. If everyone incorporated themselves we could close down prisons because there wouldn't be any laws that could touch you. You would be completely immune to personal liability for any of your actions.

Right wingers would worship me as a god so even if I was charged with a crime they would let me off if they were on a jury.

Wow, I guess I'm gonna go on a crime spree and when caught I'll just tell the cop I'm a CEO, and he will then apologize to me and let me go.

I think I'm going to like being a CEO. I don't have to know anything. I won't have any responsibilities. And I won't be accountable to anyone. I could even kill people and destroy entire seas with pollution and get away with it. I'll get to keep my mansions and billions I have in my offshore banks.

I'm starting to like 'libertarianism' and 'conservatism'!!!


You know what's strange? If Osama bin Laden incorporated Al Qaeda and named himself CEO he would be insulated from personal liability. Conservatives would cheer him on because he would be an incorporated 'business'. There B any difference between the terror caused by Bin Laden and the sociopathic terrorist Tony Hayward. Both have zero regard for others and are incapable of feeling. But at least Al Qaeda is motivated purely by a warped, evil sense of principles, while BP and all its executives are only motivated by greed & money. Which is more evil?

No.

http://www.google.com/search?q=CEO+sentenced&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=nws:1,qdr:m&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=n9UXTJ3DHcH-8AaLqdT9DA&ved=0CBIQpwU

Google news, past 30 days, "CEO sentence" returns 300 news articles.

When the rich commit crimes they pay token fines or go to country club prisons and when they get out they get to keep all the money they stole. Almost all of them never face prison time.

:) That took all of nine seconds.

Still even that wasn't your original claim. You original claim is that CEO is immune for any crime.

I could be CEO come into your home rob it, beat you up, then make you watch as you family is murdered, then burn the house down.
Next I walk to the Police tell them what happened and show them my magic CEO get out of jail free card.

Not sure what planet hat happens but it certainly isn't earth.

Tony Hayward will remain a millionaire and he will keep his mansions and huge bank accounts regardless of how many people he killed through his company's premeditated negligence or the possible destruction of an entire sea. That is my point. And the world I am in is on this planet being destroyed by soulless CEOs who couldn't care less if they destroyed every living thing as long as they made a profit. Yes, THAT is my point.

CEOs should be held personally responsible for any acts by their companies. They get paid huge amounts of money but they are insulated from personal liability.

There is another thread where a woman poured mayonaise in a mailbox and was arrested. But if she was a CEO of a corporation that poured a trillion barrels of oil into the sea she would not suffer any penalty at all.

Someone at Toyota fucked up making those accelerators.
Not just a CEO but some engineer somewhere. He isn't going to be held personally liable for the damages incurred by Toyota.

If an employee (CEO or janitor) is working on behalf of the company (coroproation, partnership, etc) then the company is liable for those employment related actions.

For example:
Janitor mops floor but doesn't put out wet floor sign because it is company policy - company liable not employee.
Janitor goes home and mugs someone at a ATM machine - janitor liable not company.

Tony Hayword won't suffer because he is RICH. His being a CEO has nothing to do with it. The rich have resources and resources give them options.

I don't know of any laws that go after CEO assets. There ARE laws that will allow the government to take everything an average person makes. I didn't say CEOs were magical, just insulated from personal responsibility. The company might be liable but not the officers. It seems obvious there were enormous pressures and even demands from upper BP management to drill and not stop and then the rig exploded. There will be a sacrificial lamb at BP but the liability won't ever reach the CEO. He will keep his fortune regardless of whether he caused the disaster through his negligence or not.

The head of Toyota IS Mr. Toyota and he won't suffer financially. CEOs are virtually immune to any prosecutions yet they make fortunes. Why is that? Why can someone have zero accountability and not even know what's going on in their companies and make millions a year?

Can you cite any code that hold a janitor, or assembly line worker, or engineer responsible for the actions of a corporation?

The corporation is liable for its own actions. Period. If an individual commits a personal violation of the law then they can be tried and convicted for it.


There is nothing magical about a CEO. A CEO under the law is just an employee of a company. He/she is nor more or less liable than any other employee.

http://www.google.com/search?q=CEO+sentence&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=iRI&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=nws:1,qdr:m&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=P94XTJywGsG88ga8u530DA&ved=0CBYQpwU

Once again 300+ examples in just last 30 days.

Former ClearOne Communications CEO Frances Flood was sentenced to four years in a federal prison on Wednesday for masterminding a scheme to artificially inflate the company's 2001-02 revenue to boost its share price.

Former Vivendi CEO admits in court to errors. Risks up to five years prison, 375,000 euros fine

Former Dynus CEO Carter sentenced to 15 years. U.S. District Court Judge Sandra Beckwith handed down the sentence, and also ordered Carter to pay almost $5 million in restitution.

Nobody.

Our judicial system is imperfect and money/power is an asset in legal matters however that doesn't mean CEO have some magical power that keeps them out of jail.

They have MONEY and rich defendants are convicted at a much lower rate than poor ones.

This works to shield evil doers both economically and to some extent, legally, from personal responsibility.

Corporations have more clout than many countries do. They certainly have more money.

Bernie went to jail for stealing from rich people.

If you're a CEO, you can steal from the poor. You can steal from the middle class. You can steal from the church. You can steal from the government.

But if you steal from rich people, you are going down.

Word.

Why haven't I read about this before

You have a habit of pissing on the parade, don't ya?

"If Osama bin Laden incorporated Al Qaeda and named himself CEO he would be insulated from personal liability."

You are confusing executives (glorified laborers) with shareholders. Corporations limit shareholder liability primarily.

Including their mansions, luxury cars, offshore accounts, etc...? Tony Hayward will still be a millionaire regardless of the damage he caused to others. If you are at the top of a corporation you are insulated from personal liability. Do you know any cases where a wealthy CEO was left a pauper and out on the streets?

If you can find any example of a worker who has been found personally negligent from actions performed while at work, then there you go.

As far as liability is concerned, it is the shareholders who are shielded

They nullified the value of all existing shares and issued new shares. The thugs at the top of the corporation got to keep their jobs and received new shares, while I was left holding stock worth nothing. I was not shielded from anything. Corporations can screw their shareholders in any number of ways. They can even short their companies through third parties and destroy their own companies and make fortunes as their companies go under.

You maximum loss is equal to your maximum investment.

In other forms of ownership (partnership) for example creditors could place a lien on your personal home, garnish your wages, seize funds intended for your child's education.

While you may not realize it or appreciate it you have substantial protection as a shareholder. It is a method to compartmentalize your risk and protect your unrelated assets. Then again a shareholder investment is the least protected (notice difference between protection of shareholder and protection of his/her investment) in the capital structure.

If you want more protection maybe you should look at bonds.

"They can even short their companies through third parties and destroy their own companies and make fortunes as their companies go under."
That would be a securities violation.

E.g., you could not personally be sued for something the company did.

Shareholders are never shielded from losing their investment if the company tanks, though. Possibility of profit goes along with risk of loss.

it's called corruption and it's not to be excused.

the purpose of incorporating a company do you not understand? NO employee, including the CEO AND the janitor, are liable for the actions (or non-actions) of a corporation. If the CEO OR the janitor break a law (embezzlement, fraud, insider trading, etc.) THEN they can be held personally accountable.

In your scenario, if the CEO of BP could be held accountable for the oil spill, than so could the engineers who planned the operation, the drillers who performed the operation, and everyone else connected with the rig (including the janitor) when it blew.

The corporation, BP, is currently being held accountable monetarily, and may face further fines and penalties.

As an old mentor used to say, "It may not be right, but it's true."

or an imaginary friend? Whatever you do, it's not your responsibility.

Us mortal people and mortal corporations, not so much.

you are gold. Evil is evil whether it's Al Qaeda or anyone else who is robbing you of a future for whatever warped reasons. Both of the entities you mention feel justified doing whatever they like and they don't care who gets hurt. The only difference is that one will take full credit for f*%#ing with you and the other makes lame excuses.

Crashcart (Halliburton) and Chimpy (family friends), for starters. All the same, just business as usual.

First - get a million dollars.

Second - ...

The rich know that they own the system and that the special allowances they enjoy are not for the common people,

whether you are incorporated or not.

What CEO went to jail after that? :shrug:

The CEO did not get drunk and crash the boat, the captain did. And he DID go to jail.

:shrug:

Why do republicans always scream 'personal responsibility' until another republican is involved?:shrug:

:shrug:

But I think you knew that.

go to jail.

The captain was qualified. The captain made an error in judgment. The CEO shouldn't be held personally and criminally liable for every action of every employee in the company.

So any CEO of any company should be held criminally responsible for any crime committed on the job by any of his workers? You don't see any problems at all with this theory?

Gotta buy your government somewhere along the way.

You get an A for the best answer.

:shrug: The Gulf is now destroyed. Will he go to jail? :shrug:

:shrug:

Why do republicans jump in and defend rich CEOs all the time? :shrug:

If you have evidence, why haven't you given it to the government so that Hayward can be prosecuted?

As I am sure that you are aware, Republican tend to seek vengeance rather than justice, even when there is no evidence.

Are you perhaps trying to goad me so you can run to the mods?

criminal activity? You seem to be pretty sure that he is guilty.

you have to hire someone at minimum wage to take the fall. As long as there is someone to take to fall -- the CEO can get away with murder.

:smoke:

Or you send vast amounts of cash to the GOP.

So how about advocating the antitrust laws be changed as they are not doing enough?

How large should a company be allowed to be?

And please don't complain if they lay off thousands - because that is just making them smaller.

CEOs cannot get away with anything - BP is going to suffer and owes so much in claims it will go out of business.

Little crimes are always punished.