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I’m pretty sure this million that everyone is paying is protection money so they don’t get a shake down
It's called a racket. This is literally racketeering.
Oh… so, “business” got it.
As in waste management business.
"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.
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.
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.
I do agree with you. I guess maybe this is more like chips on a table? Like an ante, a bet?
Either way I think we can both agree it’s shady
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.
I'd say this is more like kissing the ring.
It must be a very tiny ring.
I'm sure the oligarchs in Putin's system do the exact same thing.