Taming Corporate Power: Former FTC Chair Lina Khan to Co-Chair Mamdani’s NYC Transition Team

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday an all-female leadership team to guide his transition into office, naming former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan as one of four co-chairs in a move signaling his commitment to challenging corporate power.

Khan will serve alongside former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, United Way of New York City President and CEO Grace Bonilla, and Melanie Hartzog, former deputy mayor for health and human services, according to CNN. Political consultant Elana Leopold, who advised Mamdani’s campaign and held senior roles in the de Blasio administration, will serve as executive director of the transition team.

Khan will advise the mayor-elect on economic policy and personnel, according to her spokesperson Douglas Farrar, as reported by Bloomberg. Mamdani’s transition website describes Khan as “the nation’s leading antimonopoly champion,” according to TechCrunch.

A Progressive Antitrust Champion

The 36-year-old Khan served as FTC chair from June 2021 to January 2025, becoming the youngest person ever to lead the agency at age 32, according to biographical information. She is currently an associate professor at Columbia Law School.

Khan gained prominence while a student at Yale Law School after publishing her influential 2017 essay “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox” in the Yale Law Journal, according to news reports. The New York Times described her scholarship as having “reframed decades of monopoly law,” while Politico called her “a leader of a new school of antitrust thought.”

President Joe Biden nominated Khan to the FTC in March 2021, and she was confirmed by the Senate with bipartisan support in a 69-28 vote on June 15, 2021, according to FTC records. Her aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement during her tenure drew both praise and criticism from across the political spectrum.

Signaling Economic Direction

During Wednesday’s announcement, Khan framed Mamdani’s victory as a rejection of corporate influence in politics. “What we saw last night was New Yorkers not just electing a new mayor, but clearly rejecting a politics where outsized corporate power and money too often end up dictating our politics,” Khan said in remarks reported by TechCrunch.

Khan’s appointment is significant given the opposition Mamdani faced from major business figures during his campaign.

Khan’s appointment is significant given the opposition Mamdani faced from major business figures during his campaign. Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, investors Bill Ackman and Mike Bloomberg each spent millions of dollars to oppose Mamdani and support former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to TechCrunch. DoorDash also contributed $1 million to a pro-Cuomo super PAC.

Mamdani’s platform included increased regulation of delivery apps and protections for gig workers, positions that put him at odds with major technology and business interests, according to news reports. Khan, similarly, faced opposition from tech giants during her FTC tenure. Amazon and Meta both filed petitions seeking her recusal from investigations of their companies, according to news reports.

Building a Government Team

Torres-Springer, who served as Mayor Eric Adams’ top deputy and was well-regarded by the city’s business community, credited Mamdani with rekindling “shared faith in New York’s capacity to do big things, and to dream boldly,” according to Crain’s New York Business.

Mamdani said his picks for the transition team represent an effort to combine progressive politics with city government expertise. “Some of these people will have familiar names. Others will not,” Mamdani said, according to Crain’s. “What will unite them will be a commitment to solving old problems with new solutions. We will cast a wide net.”

The mayor-elect said he would begin announcing his choices for deputy mayors and city agency commissioners in the coming days.

Mamdani also announced a website for his transition and encouraged supporters to donate to a committee backing the effort. “A transition that can meet the moment of preparing for Jan. 1 is one that will require staff, it will require research, it will require infrastructure,” Mamdani said, according to Crain’s. “I am excited by the fact that it will be funded by the very people who brought us to this point: the working people who have been left behind by the politics of this city.”

FTC Legacy and Political Context

During her tenure at the FTC, Khan pursued aggressive antitrust enforcement against major corporations including Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft. Under her leadership, the FTC blocked various mergers and challenged what she viewed as anticompetitive practices, though some cases resulted in court losses.

Khan also drew bipartisan attention for her antitrust efforts. Then-Senator and current Vice President JD Vance cited Khan’s campaigns against large technology companies as a success for antitrust efforts in 2024, according to news reports, though she was ultimately replaced by Andrew N. Ferguson in January 2025 under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Mamdani, who won the mayoral race with more than 2 million votes cast—the largest turnout in a mayoral race in more than 50 years according to the city’s Board of Elections—has called for tax hikes on the wealthy to fund policies aimed at reducing the cost of living. His campaign promises included freezing rent for rent-stabilized units, providing free bus service, and opening city-owned grocery stores in each borough.

The 34-year-old democratic socialist becomes New York’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, defeating both Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in Tuesday’s election. He will be inaugurated on January 1, 2026.

This story, conceptualized and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk, was aggregated by AI from several news reports.