Trump Nominates Andrew Ferguson As Ftc Chair

President-elect Donald Trump named Republican lawyer Andrew Ferguson arsenic his nominee for nan adjacent president of nan Federal Trade Commission, succeeding Lina Khan, who famously has been reliable connected some mergers and Big Tech.

“Andrew has a proven grounds of opinionated up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech successful our Great Country,” Trump wrote successful a station Tuesday evening connected his societal media level Truth Social. “Andrew will beryllium nan astir America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair successful our Country’s History."

Ferguson Plans to Take On Big Tech

Ferguson joined nan FTC arsenic a commissioner successful April. He wrote connected nan X societal media level Tuesday that nan FTC, nether his guidance, “will extremity Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech."

“We will make judge that America is nan world’s technological leader and nan champion spot for innovators to bring caller ideas to life,” Ferguson wrote.  

Trump besides connected Tuesday nominated Republican antitrust lawyer Mark Meador to beryllium an FTC commissioner. Meador, The Wall Street Journal reported, is simply a erstwhile adjutant to Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah), who led nan caller preamble of authorities to break up Alphabet's Google (GOOGL).

The FTC nether Khan has sued Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) for allegedly abusing their monopolistic position to stifle competition.

M&A Is Well Off 2021's Highs

Bankers whitethorn cheer nan Ferguson appointment, viewing him arsenic much friends to deals. Total U.S. M&A measurement truthful acold this twelvemonth is $1.35 trillion, conscionable somewhat up from 2023 numbers and good disconnected nan level of $2.62 trillion successful 2021, according to Dealogic figures that exclude debt.

Khan has blocked billions of dollars worthy of deals, including nan long-planned $20 cardinal merger betwixt Kroger (KR) and Albertsons (ACI), which a national judge blocked yesterday. Albertsons terminated nan woody Wednesday and said it revenge a suit alleging that Kroger took a “willfully deficient" attack to securing regulatory clearance.