According to Business Insider, former FTC Chair Lina Khan has been named as one of the co-chairs of Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral transition team just hours after his election victory. Khan called Mamdani’s win a clear rejection of “outsized corporate power and money” in politics during a speech on Wednesday. During her time leading the FTC under President Joe Biden, Khan angered Wall Street and Silicon Valley with her aggressive antitrust campaigns targeting Amazon and Meta. Mamdani won the mayoral race decisively despite billionaire opposition, and business critics like Bill Ackman have already offered to help him run the nation’s center of capitalism. Khan will lead the transition alongside former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, nonprofit leader Grace Bonilla, and city budget expert Melanie Hartzog.
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The corporate backlash begins
Here’s the thing about bringing Lina Khan into New York City politics – it’s basically throwing gasoline on an already burning fire. We’re talking about someone who made her name taking on the biggest tech giants in the country, and now she’s helping shape the leadership of America’s financial capital. The business leaders who spent millions trying to keep Mamdani out of office must be absolutely losing their minds right now.
And let’s be real – this isn’t just symbolic. Khan knows how to wield regulatory power. She spent years at the FTC building cases against corporate behemoths. Now she’s bringing that same anti-monopoly energy to a city that’s literally defined by corporate power. Think about the implications for everything from real estate developers to Wall Street banks to the tech companies that have made NYC their second home.
What this actually means for New York
So what does a Khan-influenced mayoral transition actually look like in practice? Well, we’re probably looking at much tougher scrutiny of corporate mergers that affect New York businesses. More aggressive enforcement against predatory business practices. Potentially even new city-level regulations that mirror the antitrust approach she championed at the federal level.
Remember that Mamdani’s transition website describes Khan as “the nation’s leading antimonopoly champion.” That’s not subtle language. They’re putting corporate America on notice that the rules are about to change in the country’s most important economic city. And honestly? It’s about time someone challenged the assumption that what’s good for corporate profits is automatically good for New Yorkers.
The really fascinating part is watching the immediate pivot from business leaders. They went from funding opposition campaigns to offering “help” within hours. That tells you everything about where the power dynamics are shifting. They know this administration could fundamentally change how business gets done in New York City.
