Top 10 Greediest Decisions Companies Have Ever Made

United Airlines
In 2017, United Airlines had a problem on a United Express flight from Chicago O'Hare International Airport. While many airlines conduct overselling policies to avoid no-shows taking up empty seats, this flight was overbooked. They wanted to board four employees of Republic Airways, who were contracted to United Airlines. So, the company offered rewards for four passengers to leave. However, with no takers, United randomly selected customers, which included Dr. David Dao[a]. He couldn’t miss the flight as he had patients the next day. Rather than be understanding, United called security, who forcefully removed Dao, causing visible injuries. As footage of the incident caused outrage, United’s share price dropped. Dao then threatened a lawsuit, which caused the company to issue a settlement.

Turing Pharmaceuticals
Included on Forbes’s “30 Under 30” list for up-and-coming entrepreneurs, Martin Shkreli appeared to have the world as his oyster. In 2015, having already created one pharmaceutical company in Retrophin, he founded Turing Pharmaceuticals. The company later bought the rights to the brand-name medicine Daraprim, which is mainly used to treat the parasitic disease toxoplasmosis. Later, Turing would increase Daraprim’s price from $13.50 to $750 per pill. Outrage from patients and medical professionals didn’t cause the company to backtrack. Instead, rival companies developed a generic version of Daraprim. After Shkreli was put in jail for fraud, Turing, now known as Vyera Pharmaceuticals, settled an FTC case for $40 million for hiking the price.

$HAWK [c]
In 2024, an intoxicated Haliey Welch popped up on a video for the YouTube channel “Tim & Dee TV” to tell her intimate secret for men in the bedroom. From that, she became a viral hit. Capturing lightning in a bottle, Welch, armed with a team, began creating a media empire. However, by the end of the year, she went one step further by releasing the cryptocurrency meme coin, $HAWK. Just hours after hitting the market, the coin’s value plummeted by over 95%. Outraged investors accused Welch and $HAWK of stealing from them through insider trading or a pump-and-dump scam, leading to a lawsuit.

Boeing[d]
In 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed. In 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 also crashed. There were no survivors. With both flights having used a Boeing 737 MAX, the model was grounded worldwide. The investigation found that Boeing’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, a flight stabilizing feature, was a factor in both incidents. Boeing knew about problems with MCAS years before but chose to do nothing to fix it to save money. The company also convinced the FAA to exempt the MAX model from newer safety requirements, saving them billions in development. In 2020, the grounding was lifted. It’s estimated that Boeing lost $20 billion in fines, legal fees, and compensation, on top of over $60 billion in lost sales.

Theranos[e]
Elizabeth Holmes grew to fame by founding the health technology company Theranos. She claimed they had found a way to reduce the need for vials of blood for testing. Instead, Theranos could perform the blood tests with a pinprick amount—and do so more accurately and quickly. This skyrocketed Theranos to a $9 billion valuation as wealthy investors flocked to it. If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it was. In 2015, John Carreyrou revealed that the company was using older technology, not its patented Edison Devices. Investigations found that Theranos had misled the public. In 2018, the company was dissolved. In 2022, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months for fraud and ordered to pay $452 million in restitution.

Chiquita[f] Brands International
Known formerly as the United Fruit Company, Chiquita became one of the world’s biggest suppliers of tropical fruit, especially bananas. Yet, behind their friendly logo, the company has been involved in several scandals to make money. In 2007, Chiquita admitted that it had paid the far-right paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, over $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004. In exchange, AUC would assist and protect the fruit company’s operations. After pleading guilty to aiding and abetting a terrorist organization, Chiquita had to pay $25 million in restitution. In 2024, a judge found Chiquita liable in a lawsuit filed by families of AUC victims, resulting in $38.3 million in damages.

Various
Rana Plaza, based in Bangladesh, was a clothing manufacturing factory for various brands, including Zara, Walmart, and Primark, among others. In 2013, the building collapsed, injuring 2500 people and killing over 1100. The investigation found the building’s owner, Sohel Rana, had built the property without permits. He had then installed 3 additional floors without proper support. The heavy, unsupported weight caused the collapse. Following the disaster, many clothing brands signed on to a factory safety pact that would involve paying for inspections and upgrades in Bangladesh factories. But some major retailers refused, fearful of being taken to court. Companies including Walmart, Gap, and Target later agreed to their own safety plan, which was criticized for lacking legal commitments.

Nestlé[h]
In 2000, Nestlé drew criticism for helping convince the World Water Council to change its statement on water being a “right” to a “need” to continue selling it to people. Over the years, the company has been involved in water scandals across North America. In Canada, the company has been accused of taking water with expired permits. In one indigenous community in Ontario, Nestlé took so much water that the residents no longer had any coming from their taps. In California, the company has allegedly extracted water during droughts, leaving some sources dry. Poland Spring, previously a subsidiary of Nestlé, has been accused of depleting water sources in Maine and misleading customers about the source of its water.

ExxonMobil [i]
Ranked by researchers as one of the biggest contributors to releasing greenhouse gases globally, oil and gas company ExxonMobil could’ve been making plans to address this. Instead, they hid the effects of climate change for decades. As far back as 1977, employees expressed concerns to management that burning fossil fuels was likely leading to climate change. As well as conducting their own research, ExxonMobil began funding groups that denied climate change. From 1998 to 2004, they gave $16 million to groups who argued against its severity. It wasn’t until 2014 that ExxonMobil changed its stance on the crisis. However, that didn’t stop governmental bodies and people from suing ExxonMobil for hiding its knowledge of climate change and rallying against it.

Volkswagen Group
In 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced German car manufacturer Volkswagen had violated the Clean Air Act. The company had programmed their turbocharged direct injection diesel engines to only activate emission control during tests. Away from the lab, the vehicles were releasing up to 40 times the maximum allowance. This illegal feature was present in around 11 million vehicles across the globe that were made between 2009 and 2015. It’s believed the increased emissions might’ve contributed to severe health issues and possible deaths. By 2022, Volkswagen had paid around €[j]30 billion in fines globally. The company’s then-CEO, Martin Winterkorn, resigned after the scandal. On top of having to pay Volkswagen $14 million, he’s currently awaiting a trial in Germany.


What other greedy company decisions that led to catastrophe did we miss in the video? Let us know in the comments below.

[b]dare-uh-prim https://youtu.be/L-U1MMa0SHw?si=dOzTQXYNtjein-5U&t=94
TOOR-ing https://youtu.be/L-U1MMa0SHw?si=aJHqPDIb3dGTAnap&t=22
SHKRELL-ee https://youtu.be/2PCb9mnrU1g?si=f3NU_2NqIjyr05bH&t=8
ruh-TROH-fin https://youtu.be/DB0qhWmxq30?si=PuH2kh338NXedYZV&t=282
tock-soh-plazz-MOH-sis https://www.dictionary.com/browse/toxoplasmosis
vee-AIR-uh https://youtu.be/tEFc4gcsm1I?si=v3Io-iMtFld7QeeS&t=25
[c]let's call this "hawk tuah coin" https://youtu.be/zUHq8AWR1Rg?si=v-46Tnt1KwmCa9cK&t=1343
Haliey = hailey https://youtu.be/cbF_HMIOhRU?si=LQbNhrLO3ME74Xih&t=20
[d]BOH-ing https://forvo.com/search/Boeing/
MCAS = em cass https://youtu.be/Q8oCilY4szc?si=9kNc0FKqwXA9putC&t=1085
[e]THARE-UH-noce ("noce" rhymes with "dose") https://youtu.be/rGfaJZAdfNE?si=kXkeou-ZiGCSJBiA&t=283
CARRY-roo https://youtu.be/dr7rb_klbt4?si=13QMhGi4V_HA0916&t=20
[f]chick-KEE-tah https://youtu.be/TzSjAVFW6IY?si=NfQjqR0w1GI63Luy&t=7
ay you see https://youtu.be/osGHWrst-2o?si=wtEtIYaykWyoQe5C&t=76
[g]rawnna https://youtu.be/9Fkhzdc4ybw?si=J5IF4vtqTIINT0Sr&t=160
bawng-luh-DESH https://youtu.be/9Fkhzdc4ybw?si=C9R65DCNk-XY0lyo&t=145
zawrra https://youtu.be/fNgPYPMerEU?si=_rQnIzcnUozCRN8M&t=6
PRY-mark https://youtu.be/OiKGoOpLoLs?si=RRo9FZUMZpogfG_A&t=1
[h]NESS-lee https://youtu.be/jZKi1UKZHNs?si=hL2xMH2X71wrBC87&t=90
on-TAIRY-oh https://www.dictionary.com/browse/Ontario
[i]ECK-SAWN MOH-bull https://youtu.be/sYNhUg7mmnU?si=DE3FkbYZD2tmiafJ&t=14
[j]€ = euro
winter-corn https://youtu.be/Qt_Y3KyKrts?si=tuhFPccSNgVoklvr&t=9