[tiahura]

No it wasn't. This was the trial judge deciding to not reduce it. $43 million in compensatory damages is unusually high for a wrongful death.

[jeffbee]

$43 millon does not seem spectacularly high compensation for killing someone at the age of 22.

[dekhn]

When my spouse worked in the area of determining "the value of an individual" (economically, not morally), it was computed as present value lifetime earnings: the cumulative income of the individual, converted back to its current value (using some sort of inflation model). IIRC, the PVLE averaged out to about $1-10M.

[IAmBroom]

"Seem high" and "is much higher than usual" are two very different things.

Your mother's life might be worth $100 billion+ to you, but that doesn't mean her accidental death will make you into Elon's neighbor.