Something I've noticed with German business law is that it is very much structured in such a way that if you aren't an incumbent player, you are essentially incentivized to be absorbed by them.

In the US we do have issues with businesses, but it's not like the Bosch, Thyssen, or Tschira family are any less unethical.

The level of hierarchy I've noticed in German firms and founders is insane to say the least. I'd love to do some quantitative research into this, but I haven't been in academia or policy for years now.

German here. I fully agree that German companies tend to be crazy hierarchical.