Can billionaires go broke? Sure, if they make boneheaded moves by being overleveraged and assuming too much risk. However, neither of these individuals are in that category.
So, how can the heads of two of the largest social media companies in the world go broke? What force is big enough to take them down?
The answer is rather simple but the means is a bit convoluted.
Red Or Blue
There is little dispute which way these two individuals, as well as their companies, lean. It is not doubt they fit into the "blue" camp.
Throughout the last election, social media proved to be very useful to the Democrats in the pursuit of defeating Trump. Throughout the election, Trump found himself harassed and, ultimately, banned from the platforms.
The mission was accomplished. Trump was disposed of and now Biden occupies the White House. All is well in the world for the blue pill people.
Thou Shalt Not Switch Pills
Mega-technology is drunk with power. This is most would agree with. Just think back to Zuckerberg in front of Congress with his smug attitude. Granted the fossils in the Senate had no clue what he was talking about. However, that doesn't absolve him of his attitude and the fact that he believes he is above reproach.
After all, he owns so much Facebook stock that he is untouchable in that company, which is one of the largest in the world.
Of course, as much of an ally that the social media companies were during the campaign, they could easily become a threat.
There is nothing to say that they would switch camps and become red pill leaning yet those in power are not going to leave anything to chance. After all, they are presently looking to implement an agenda.
Those Shalt Not Cross Washington
The establishment was honed over decades. There is no way to doubt how much they centralized power while insulating themselves. One of Trump's problems was that he danced into Washington believing that he would "clean the place up".
What Trump did not understand, at least going in, that he was an outsider. Regardless of party, those in the Beltway stick together. They might oppose the other side of the aisle but they will join forces to obliterate outsiders.
This is something that Trump had to learn the hard way.
Of course, with Trump quarantined, there is now a new threat to those in power.
Big Tech did a remarkable job of consolidating power. They set up their entire models around the idea of "winner take most". This allowed them to get enormous in size, generate billions of dollars, and amass incredible power.
In short, power outside of Washington is not going to be allowed.
Anti-Competitive Practices Targeted
President Biden just signed an Executive Order that goes after the anti-competitive practices of these type of companies. This was a rather drastic move when the full scope of the action is looked at.
There are 72 actions and recommendations spelled out, involving dozens of federal agencies. The bottom line is the Feds are not playing around.
The idea is that Big Tech uses their size to keep smaller competitors out as well as abusing people's personal information.
While this makes sense on the surface, there is something far more threatening to these companies.
Biden's Order has a directive to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to challenge prior mergers that previous administrations allowed to go through.
This means that the government can go in and split these companies apart. Any acquisition that is now deemed anti-competitive could be unwound. For example, Facebook's Instagram, which was acquired earlier in the last decade could face a forced sale under the new directive.
Threat To "National Security"
It could get worse for these entities.
If Washington really started to push the matter, it could deem these companies a threat to national security. After all, it is looking like a power threat to those inside the Beltway.
Would any of this fly constitutionally? It seems like this will not matter a great deal. We see how corrupt the system really is, from top to bottom. The public is losing trust in all branches, the Executive, Legislature, and Judicial and for good reason.
It is safe to say that they all cover for each other on important matters. Rights of individual, private citizens are secondary to their wishes.
All of this could lead to the holdings drastically reduced these two through outright seizure or via the diminishing of the entities they own. Since their power is a threat to Washington, it is not going to be tolerated.
These Companies Will Be Hurt
History is littered with individuals and companies that were targeted by the United States Government. This rarely ends well for the ones who are under the microscope.
This really has little to do with opening up competition. The reality is that Big Tech is a threat to the power in Washington.
Unfortunately, that is an arena filled with career politicians and bureaucrats. They feel little to no responsibility to anyone outside their circle.
The likes of Zuckerberg and Dorsey are going to find what this means. Whereas they were on the right side of things last year, now they are in the hot seat. This is going to cost them big time.
Even if they end up prevailing, the fight is going to be long and drawn out. Instead of focusing upon growing their businesses, we can expect more trips to Washington.
Of course, these companies are well funded but they are fighting an entity that has unlimited debt levels it can draw upon.
Will Zuckerberg and Dorsey end up broke? Not likely. However, as the likes of Standard Oil and Ma Bell found out, no matter how big one is, the USG is bigger.
Is the Beltway crowd scared of the power threat that Big Tech wields? It is likely the case. Our present government system is not suited to operate in this era of digitization. They are going to do all they can to hold onto power as the next couple decades work against them.
People like Zuckerberg and Dorsey were able to take advantage of the switch into the digital world. This is not going to sit well with the government since that is the true threat to its existence.
We can expect a lot of grandstanding by the establishment and them to make an example out of these different companies.
Let the games begin.
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