As I read this article, as a non-coder (for a living) I noticed that what is being assumed is that the code produces a desired result. To that I will agree. You can really produce some bad code that has a positive outcome.

But as a counter proposal, I will submit that code can get so bad, that the product no longer produces a desirable result, no longer produces it in a manner that people want, or doesn't produce it at all.

Code that produces no desirable result or no result at all. Is as bad as it's going to get. It's a worthless pile of ASCII characters.

Oh and by the way, I will also submit that there is a form of bankruptcy for technical debt.

The company folds, or the software is no longer maintained or in use.

When was the last time you used word Perfect? Or MS-DOS?