July 26 (Reuters) - Billionaire Democratic donors Barry
Diller and Reid Hoffman said in interviews this week they hope
Kamala Harris will replace Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina
Khan if she becomes U.S. president, openly rejecting a pillar of
President Joe Biden's antitrust policy.
Khan has been at the forefront of the Biden administration's
push to use U.S. antitrust law to boost competition and address
high prices and low wages. Khan, who oversaw the FTC's ban on
noncompete agreements, has drawn the ire of corporate groups,
but won fans including Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance,
for her skepticism towards big business.
Now, big money Democratic donors this week publicly said
Khan should not be part of a potential Harris administration.
Diller, chairman of travel site Expedia ( EXPE ), said in a recent
Bloomberg interview that he would donate the maximum allowed to
Harris' campaign. He said in an interview on CNBC on Friday that
he would lobby Harris to replace Khan, saying Khan was against
"almost anything" business wants to do to grow efficiently.
While the FTC under Khan has garnered a reputation for
blocking mergers, the agency reviews fewer than 2% of deals
annually and blocks fewer than 1%. In the deals that it has sued
to block, including the merger of grocery chains Kroger's ( KR )
and Albertsons ( ACI ), the FTC has highlighted not only the
effects on consumers but potential fallout for workers.
"Chair Khan is honored to serve in the Biden Harris
administration, where she has protected consumers, workers, and
entrepreneurs from illegal conduct and corporate abuse," said
FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar.
Diller's comments came after LinkedIn co-founder Reid
Hoffman said in an interview on CNN on Thursday that he hoped
Harris would replace Khan, calling the FTC chair "a person who
is not helping America." Hoffman has donated $7 million to a
Democratic super PAC, a political action committee that raises
funds for candidates.
Hoffman sits on the board of Microsoft ( MSFT ), which
bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016. The FTC sued the
software-maker over its acquisition of gaming company Activision
Blizzard.
Prominent Democratic senators have spoken out in support of
Khan, including senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Warren said on Friday that Khan should continue her work,
calling it "a big reason the economy is growing strong as we saw
with yesterday's GDP data."