Dominion CEO delivers bad news despite Fox News settlement.

How Dominion Voting Systems’ Reputation Was Destroyed Despite $787.5 Million Settlement with Fox News

It’s not every day that a company wins a settlement worth more than three-quarters of a billion dollars and still manages to go belly-up. But that’s exactly what Dominion Voting Systems’ CEO, John Poulos, says is going to happen to his company.

Just over a month ago, Dominion and Fox News announced a $787.5 million settlement only hours before the defamation lawsuit was due to go to trial. Despite the windfall, Poulos told TIME that the bad publicity has damaged the company’s reputation beyond repair.

“It basically put us into a death spiral,” he said of the alleged defamation. “And by accusing us of the greatest American crime in history, it turned us, as one of our customers has described, as the most demonized brand in the United States.”

Dominion had been in business since 2002, but only became a well-known brand nationally in the wake of election-stealing allegations following the 2020 presidential election. Former President Donald Trump and many in his circle had accused the company of conspiring to throw the election in favor of then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. None of those allegations was ever proved, which is why Fox was forced to settle for such a large amount.

Nevertheless, Poulos says he expects most, if not all, of the company’s customers not to renew their current contracts as they expire.

“It’s just easier for our customers to use something that’s not Dominion,” Poulos said. “We just know that our business ultimately goes to zero.”

“Eventually, I suspect all of our customers will go a different direction,” he added. “It’s just a matter of time.”

Poulos told TIME that “Dominion experienced a spike in death threats” after the Fox settlement was announced, and that he and Dominion were committed to keeping employees safe. Dominion has another six defamation lawsuits pending, including actions filed against Newsmax and One America News.

Smartmatic, another electronic voting systems company, has its own defamation suit pending against Fox. The company is seeking a whopping $2.7 billion in damages, or almost 3.5 times the amount of Fox’s settlement with Dominion.

“Fox on-air hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro, and Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell” are also named in the suit, according to the company’s website.

Smartmatic is “continuing to analyze our claims against OANN and Newsmax,” and has not ruled out the possibility of lawsuits against those companies as well.

Lessons Learned

• Winning a settlement doesn’t always mean a company’s reputation can be salvaged.
• Accusations without evidence can have long-lasting consequences.
• Customers may choose to go elsewhere if a company’s reputation is damaged.
• Defamation lawsuits can be costly and time-consuming.

CORRECTION, May 23, 2023: Dominion Voting Systems’ settlement with Fox News was for more than three-quarters of a billion dollars. An earlier version of this article included a different number.

Despite the massive settlement, Dominion’s future looks bleak. The company cannot remain solvent forever on the basis of revenue from litigation. It remains to be seen what will happen to Dominion and Smartmatic in the coming months and years.

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