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The worst-affected victims are dead, what use do they have for money?

And you're ignoring that nationalization can work well in the US: look at GM in the wake of the financial crisis.

The money would go to their estates, the same as any wrongful death suit. Also, GM wasn’t nationalized. The government acted as a private lender, loaning a large amount of capital in return for 60% equity. At no point did the government start directing company operations for “public interest” ends, as the OP suggested. That’s a line that most countries are correctly loathe to cross. For example, even though the German government owns Deutsche Bahn, it doesn’t micromanage the operations of the company to achieve political ends.

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