FTC Chair Lina Khan's Impact? Amazon Hires Dozens of Former FTC Officials

Amazon.Com, Inc AMZN is poaching several staffers from the Federal Trade Commission as it gears up for an antitrust battle with the regulator.

The firm battling charges of strong-arming third-party sellers into using its logistics network – has already hired around a dozen former FTC officials, New York Post cites familiar sources.

Some officials Amazon poached include former FTC attorney Brian Huseman who manages Amazon's policy shop. Former FTC attorney in the Competition Bureau Amy Posner, senior corporate counsel, and former FTC attorney Sean Pugh, now a senior manager in public policy.

Insiders say FTC Chair Lina Khan made Amazon's hiring spree much easier.

Amazon's sheer hiring volume also reflects the gravity of FTC's threats. The agency has already slapped Amazon with three lawsuits and will likely bring an antitrust suit to break up the company.

Some speculate the agency will seek to force a spinoff of the lucrative Amazon Web Services unit, divesting its logistic business, or even unwind significant acquisitions like MGM and Whole Foods.

Last week, the FTC prosecuted Amazon for allegedly tricking Prime customers.

The FTC alleged that Amazon had conned millions of consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions.

Price Action: AMZN shares traded higher by 0.59% at $128.67 premarket on the last check Friday.

Photo by Tony Webster via Flickr