Zohran Mamdani taps Lina Khan as co-chair of NYC Mayor transition team

Zohran Mamdani taps Lina Khan as co-chair of NYC Mayor transition team

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has picked former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan to serve as co-chair of his transition team — sparking issues among New York City tech executives.

Khan — a 36-year-old Democrat who purchased major instances against Meta and Amazon while working the FTC from 2021 to 2025 — stunned some onlookers on Wednesday as she appeared alongside Mamdani at his first post-election press convention.

“I think what we saw last night was New Yorkers not just electing a new mayor, but clearly rejecting a politics where outsize corporate power and money too often end up dictating our politics, and a clear mandate for change,” Khan said at the event, drawing cheers from the crowd.

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani holds a press convention at the Unisphere in the Queens borough of New York City, U.S., November 5, 2025. REUTERS

When requested if she’s contemplating a full-time position within the Mamdani administration, a source near Khan said she’s centered on her obligations with the transition team.

“Lina’s been announced as a co-chair of the mayor-elect’s transition team, where she will advise on economic policy and personnel,” said Doug Farrar, a spokesman for Khan.

Khan’s involvement instantly raised alarms with Big Tech and Wall Street honchos — many of whom have lengthy bristled at her aggressive enforcement ways, powerful merger reviews and anti-monopoly crackdowns while she headed the FTC.

Google, Meta and Amazon all have a large presence in New York, and some of those large corporations may interpret Mamdani’s working with Khan as a “shot across the bow,” according to Eric Soufer, head of the superior tech observe at Tusk Strategies.

Zohran Mamdani has spooked some local enterprise leaders together with his platform. REUTERS

“I think a lot of people are going to have some sleepless nights early on before they have some conversations or at least hear something publicly from Lina Khan and the rest of the transition team about what their plans are,” Soufer said.

Aside from Khan, the transition team’s co-chairs embody former deputy mayor Maria Torres-Springer, nonprofit govt Grace Bonilla and metropolis finances skilled Melanie Hartzog.

During her time at the FTC, Khan waged an unsuccessful fight to cease Microsoft’s acquisition of video game large Activision-Blizzard; blocked an tried merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons and enacted a ban on non-compete agreements when employees swap jobs, which was later reversed in court docket.

Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman and IAC Inc. chairman Barry Diller had been among those to publicly criticize Khan’s tenure at the FTC.

Lina Khan ran the FTC from 2021 to 2025. Paul Martinka

At the same time, Khan has obtained fierce assist from so-called “Little Tech” startups who had been largely supportive of her efforts to interrupt up dominant rivals.

 Khan’s hard-charging method to antitrust enforcement even drew assist from so-called “Khanservatives” on the proper, including Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.

“I guess I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration who I think is doing a pretty good job,” Vance said at an antitrust convention sponsored by Silicon Valley startup incubator Y Combinator last yr.

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