Trump Verdict Takeaways: Big Fine But No Corporate Death Penalty

Former President Donald Trump, his eldest sons and top executives were hit with a $364 million verdict Friday in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit accusing them of carrying out a yearslong scheme to inflate the value of the Trump Organization’s holdings.

The massive penalty imposed by New York Justice Arthur Engoron was just about what James had said Trump should pay for defrauding banks and insurers.

But the highly anticipated ruling wasn’t entirely the worst-case scenario. Engoron didn’t ban the former president from the New York real estate industry for life as James had requested. ...