--- title: Is the ‘Big One’ about to drop on Amazon? - The Hustle description: This week, the long-simmering battle between the FTC and Amazon escalates. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/662561061-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-ftc-vs-amazon_20230813234521.webp --- # Is the ‘Big One’ about to drop on Amazon? ![Ben Berkley](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Ben Berkley](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/ben-berkley) Published: August 14, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 If I ran a $1.4T company like Amazon, I would: ![FTC vs Amazon](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/662561061-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-ftc-vs-amazon_20230813234521.webp?width=595&height=400&name=662561061-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-ftc-vs-amazon_20230813234521.webp) - End each day looking at the long list of *full countries* with less money - Dive into my gigantic pile of money like Scrooge McDuck - Feel invincible This week, Amazon’s leadership can continue doing the first two, but the “feeling invincible” thing may get a bit harder. Amazon officials will meet with FTC commissioners, including Chair Lina Khan, ahead of an antitrust lawsuit that threatens to break up its ecommerce empire. #### **What both sides are thinking** - **FTC: **Khan’s agency has various pending cases targeting Google, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft, but this week’s Amazon action — which *Bloomberg* [calls](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-29/amazon-major-ftc-antitrust-case-expected-in-coming-weeks?sref=3Ac2yX40) “the Big One” — would be its boldest move yet against Big Tech. - **Amazon: **The tech giant’s on the offensive, [per](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/08/amazons-final-talks-with-ftc-unlikely-to-thwart-antitrust-lawsuit/) *Ars Technica* — accusing the FTC of harassing founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy, and seeking to remove Khan (whose rise followed a 2017 paper calling out Amazon’s anticompetitive behavior) from the case. - This FTC action is seen as one of the gravest threats to Amazon’s business in its nearly three decades of operation. If the feds win in court, it could eventually result in a forced breakup or restructuring. #### **What’s next?** A lot more posturing and *a lot* more time in court for both parties. This week’s “last rites” meetings offer Amazon one final shot to argue its case before commissioners vote on official antitrust action. If a suit follows as expected, it’d spend years being litigated, [per](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/25/ftc-lawsuit-break-up-amazon-00108130) *Politico*. That’d already be a win for the FTC. Its antitrust suits aren’t always pursued with courtroom victories in mind, [per](https://hbr.org/2023/02/microsoft-google-and-a-new-era-of-antitrust) *Harvard Business Review* — they’re a tool to stymie companies it feels have grown too powerful and to discourage future dealmaking. **In the meantime… **say it with us, Amazon:** **“We’ve got more money than Switzerland. We’ve got this.” Topics: [Amazon](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/amazon) [Regulation](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/regulation) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![No, we do not want Amazon Music Unlimited](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/405441452-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-amazon_20230912220603.webp) ### No, we do not want Amazon Music Unlimited - ![Where there’s smoke, there’s an autonomous vehicle blocking a fire](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1254896453-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-AutoSF_20230824221640.webp) ### Where there’s smoke, there’s an autonomous vehicle blocking a fire - ![Meta vs. Canada is a long pattern of dismantling news](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1038385209-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-newspaper_20230823220232.webp) ### Meta vs. Canada is a long pattern of dismantling news - ![TikTok’s new plan to avoid getting banned in the US](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1576652447-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-16T235439.232Z.webp) ### TikTok’s new plan to avoid getting banned in the US - ![Bowling balls, nipple clamps, rubber chickens: Essential or not, you can get ‘em on Amazon](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/202924809-2020-News-Brief_2020-04-09T012738.687Z.webp) ### Bowling balls, nipple clamps, rubber chickens: Essential or not, you can get ‘em on Amazon - ![Amazon labels its ‘frequently returned’ items](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/GIFs/760623798-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMarch2029202023amazon.webp) ### Amazon labels its ‘frequently returned’ items - ![France vs. social media dishonesty](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/GIFs/1290479157-final_size-france_20230406212736.webp) ### France vs. social media dishonesty - ![Amazon’s Virginia bummer](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2101165569-HS-News-Brief_2023-03-06T002350.635Z.webp) ### Amazon’s Virginia bummer - ![Amazon says its media moves are working](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1251850792-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-07T041724.684Z.webp) ### Amazon says its media moves are working - ![Canada’s drug experiment](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1415001937-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-31T004713.704Z.webp) ### Canada’s drug experiment Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ben Berkley", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/ben-berkley" }, "datePublished" : "2023-08-14T21:03:18.000Z", "headline" : "Is the ‘Big One’ about to drop on Amazon?", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/662561061-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-ftc-vs-amazon_20230813234521.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/is-the-big-one-about-to-drop-on-amazon", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ben Berkley", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/ben-berkley" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:14:07+0000", "datePublished" : "2023-08-14T21:03:18+0000", "headline" : "Is the ‘Big One’ about to drop on Amazon?", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/662561061-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-ftc-vs-amazon_20230813234521.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```