Fox Corporation could likely withstand any financial penalty from the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit, experts say.
The defamation trial, which is scheduled to start Tuesday after a one-day delay, will decide whether the company can be held liable for false claims by Fox News broadcasters about Donald Trump's election loss in 2020, but experts believe the $1.6 billion sought in compensatory damages will eventually be reduced by a jury or in an out-of-court settlement, reported NBC News.
The jury will almost certainly not award Dominion all of that money in damages, according to Lyrissa Lidsky, a constitutional law professor at the University of Florida, but could impose punitive damages against Fox for “extremely wrongful conduct," adding that she has not yet seen any evidence the full amount would be awarded.
“There’s a litigation strategy to ask for more than you think you can really get to anchor the number high,” Lidsky said.
Even in the unlikely event the full amount was levied against Fox, financial experts say that wouldn't be the end of the world for a company with $4 billion in reserve at the end of last year, although stock market analysts say its stock would likely take a hit due to the lawsuit.
The company's stock was trading at $33.62 late Monday morning but has fallen more than 10 percent since Dominion filed the suit in March 2021.
“At a minimum, the constant barrage of negative headlines should be an overhang on near-term investor sentiment,” wrote Bank of America Securities analysts in an estimate last month.
