Every corporation listed in the previous article has faced controversy, but several have been formally punished or investigated by governments and courts. Some paid fines that sound enormous, yet represent only a fraction of their profits. Others escaped real accountability altogether.
Enron executives were prosecuted and sent to prison. The company collapsed completely, leaving behind a legacy of destroyed pensions and ruined lives. It remains one of the clearest examples of justice delivered, though too late for those it harmed.
WorldCom executives were also convicted after the company’s massive fraud became public. Billions of dollars vanished, and thousands lost their jobs. The scandal led to the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, meant to prevent similar accounting crimes.
ExxonMobil paid billions in damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill and faced multiple lawsuits over environmental destruction. The company has also been under investigation for allegedly misleading the public about the dangers of climate change.
Wells Fargo was fined more than three billion dollars for creating millions of fake accounts and defrauding its own customers. The bank’s leaders resigned, and the company continues to face new investigations and lawsuits.
Purdue Pharma faced a wave of lawsuits from states and families over its role in fueling the opioid epidemic. The company filed for bankruptcy, and members of the Sackler family, who owned it, agreed to pay billions in settlements. Many say that was not enough to match the human toll of addiction.
Monsanto and its parent company Bayer have faced tens of thousands of lawsuits over glyphosate-based herbicides. Juries have awarded large sums to plaintiffs who claimed the products caused cancer. Bayer continues to contest many of the cases while paying billions in settlements.
Meta, once Facebook, paid a record fine to the Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations and continues to face lawsuits around the world over misinformation, election interference, and the mental health effects of its platforms.
Amazon has paid fines for worker safety violations and antitrust concerns. It has been repeatedly investigated for its treatment of employees and its influence over smaller sellers. Despite this, the company’s power continues to grow.
Apple has been fined by the European Union for anti-competitive practices and tax avoidance schemes. Its control of the App Store and ecosystem has drawn lawsuits in multiple countries.
Microsoft has paid large settlements over antitrust cases and continues to face scrutiny for its dominance in enterprise software and its acquisitions.
General Electric has faced cleanup orders and lawsuits for environmental contamination, including toxic waste sites and polluted waterways.
CoreCivic has faced lawsuits for human rights abuses, poor living conditions, and unsafe practices in its private prisons. The company has also been accused of lobbying for laws that keep prisons full.
Bayer, through its merger with Monsanto, continues to pay billions in damages over herbicide claims while facing regulatory pressure in multiple nations.
Alden Global Capital has been sued by journalists and former employees over labor violations and alleged asset stripping of local news organizations, though few penalties have stuck.
BlackRock has faced investigations related to its investment practices, environmental claims, and conflicts of interest. Regulators in multiple countries have examined its market influence.
Lockheed Martin has paid settlements related to bribery, overbilling, and contract disputes, yet remains one of the largest recipients of U.S. defense contracts.
Smithfield Foods has paid environmental fines for pollution, water contamination, and worker safety violations. Its practices have also sparked public outrage over treatment of animals.
JPMorgan Chase has paid billions in settlements for mortgage fraud, manipulation of financial markets, and compliance failures tied to money laundering. Despite repeated offenses, it remains a pillar of the financial system.
Walmart has paid hundreds of millions in fines for bribery, labor violations, and environmental offenses. It has been sued for wage theft, unsafe conditions, and discrimination across several states.
Each of these cases reveals how the scales of justice often tilt in favor of the powerful. For corporations that earn billions each quarter, a fine, even one in the hundreds of millions, becomes little more than a cost of doing business. The punishment rarely fits the harm.
When corporate power grows unchecked, the very laws meant to protect the public become tools of delay and denial. It is not enough to expose wrongdoing. It must be met with consequences that outweigh the reward of corruption.
If America truly values liberty, equality, and justice, then the same principles must apply to its most powerful entities. Until that happens, these twenty companies will remain symbols of what happens when profit is placed above people and morality is treated as a nuisance instead of a duty.
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