#because she wasnt involved in the company
One thing Succession does brilliantly is the way it hints at cruises being only one of many scandals, many of which were far worse, while simultaneously hinting that almost everyone knows more than they let on. Gerri and Roman know the pipeline was sending girls out West. Connor knows that no one was allowed in the pool with Mo, and “it was a different time back then”. Kendall signed off on NDA payments. I think the only person who maybe doesn’t actually know more than they let on is Shiv - she does seem surprised when Tom tells her the bad thing in Cruises had to do with “institutionalized sexual abuse”.
On top of that, the list of crimes covered up Tom pats out for Greg is extensive. It includes murder. I also think at some point there is an implication by someone that at least one woman was murdered, possibly by Mo, presumably because she threatened to expose him. (IIRC it’s hinted at when the inner circle is discussing the article). But by the time we get to the Congressional hearings and the magazine article being published - well, now it’s a story about a few women being groped, a couple being solicited for sex. They have one witness - not even a victim, but a witness. And even then, it turns out Gil is actually more interested in going after ATN than holding cruises accountable. No one actually cares about the victims, beyond how it can advance their agenda.
Then we also get the list of scandals on the plane in 3.01. The Tiananmen Accommodations, Sally Ann, the tabloid suicides, Argentina. Laird saying (jokingly?) that he’s burned villages for Logan. Cruises is far from the only scandal to publicly rock Waystar, and if the others played out like cruises - with only the tip of the iceberg even being what goes public - well.
I think the question “what if a good person ran Waystar?” is interesting because I think it raises another question - “CAN a good person run Waystar?” And at the end of the day… I think the answer is no. Corruption and evil is baked so thoroughly into the walls of Waystar that I think if a good person did try to run it, either the company would crumble or the person would. I don’t think you can root out the rot without everything coming down; absolute best case scenario is to simply cover it up and not do it in the future. CEO is a fundamentally morally compromised position, and anyone who thinks differently is deluding themselves
