Lina Khan
- Known for
- FTC chair, antitrust scholar
- Born in
- London, United Kingdom
- Education
- Juris Doctor, Yale Law School
Lina Khan is a legal scholar and antitrust advocate who rose to prominence through her critique of modern monopoly law. As the youngest-ever FTC Chair (2021–2025), she spearheaded a significant shift in US competition policy, challenging the dominance of big tech platforms.
Signature Positions
Khan’s tenure at the FTC was defined by an aggressive push for structural changes in markets, particularly digital ones:
- Amazon/Big Tech: Known for her seminal essay, "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox," she advocates for stricter oversight and structural separations to prevent platform dominance.
- Antitrust Enforcement: Led an aggressive enforcement strategy against mergers and acquisitions, resulting in both high-profile court losses (e.g., Microsoft-Activision) and key victories (e.g., Illumina-Grail).
- Consumer Protection: Pushed major regulations, including the landmark but ultimately struck-down ban on non-compete agreements and the "click to cancel" rule for subscriptions.
- Right to Repair: Unanimously voted to enforce the right to repair as policy, aiming to counter practices that limit independent repair work.
Notable Tensions
Khan's approach generated notable friction both within and outside the agency:
- Bias Accusations: Faced petitions from Amazon and Meta Platforms seeking her recusal due to prior criticism, highlighting ongoing debates about regulatory impartiality.
- Agency Morale: Experienced a significant drop in FTC employee satisfaction metrics during her early tenure, attributed by staff to a lack of clear strategy and sidelining of career experts.
- Legal Setbacks: Her aggressive stance led to several significant court losses in challenging mergers, prompting criticism that she pursued cases she might "expect to lose" in order to push Congress for expanded authority.
Khan is a key figure in the New Brandeis movement, aiming to revive traditional antitrust principles that focus on power rather than just consumer prices. Despite partisan division over her methods, her influence is noted across the political spectrum, even drawing praise from Republicans like Matt Gaetz for investigating corporate conduct. Her term concluded in 2025, followed by her appointment to a transition team for NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani.