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99 points

I’m pretty sure this million that everyone is paying is protection money so they don’t get a shake down

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27 points
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“Protection money” implies a significant expense. A million dollars is so little to a big tech company (and not that much to Trump) that this is more like a “Congratulations!” card with a Starbucks gift certificate inside. It’s as little as Altman can send without being insulting, but if the fact that he sent anything at all sways Trump even a little bit then the return on investment will be enormous.

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18 points

It doesn’t imply a significant expense. My grandfather used to tell us a story of how he paid what was basically a mafia a monthly fee so his barber shop wouldn’t get broken into. I forgot the exact amount, but is was like $500/m or something.

Trump also deals in these “small” transactions. Get a hundred of them and it adds up.

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19 points

I suppose this is just nitpicking, but I think $500 a month is a lot more to a barber than a million is to Altman.

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7 points

It’s to keep their name off a list. The Revenge President is back with more power, so better at least pretend to be with him if you’re also powerful.

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28 points

It’s called a racket. This is literally racketeering.

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8 points

Oh… so, “business” got it.

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1 point

As in waste management business.

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2 points

I’m sure the oligarchs in Putin’s system do the exact same thing.

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23 points

I’d say this is more like kissing the ring.

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7 points

It must be a very tiny ring.

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