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There is no doubt that there is rising regulatory scrutiny on the big tech companies. While prior congressional inquiries looked to be more focused on Apple, Google, and Facebook, there looks to be building pressure from the FTC on Amazon and potential anti-competitive behavior. Today we hosted a call with Paul Glenchur and Paul Rafelson to dive in on the regulatory risk for Amazon. Rafelson is a lawyer in the trenches with 3rd party sellers dealing with Amazon and other platforms and is able to highlight what might draw regulators to Amazon, while Glenchur brings the knowledge of the antitrust law and the experience to know what actions regulators might take against Amazon.
Topics include:
-The evolution of the Amazon model and competitive moat.
-Specifics on FTC leadership changes and why it could mean action towards AMZN.
-The evolution of Amazon's company messaging prepping for greater regulatory scrutiny.
-Why private label product competition is likely a red herring for regulators.
-How Amazon's 3p model could see greater scrutiny.
-What actions the FTC or regulators might take to limit Amazon's market power.
Guest Speakers
Hedgeye Potomac Analyst Paul Glenchur - Paul is Hedgeye's man in the court room, providing analysis on FCC, FTC, and supreme court cases impacting large public equities. He is a member of the Federal Communications Bar and has testified before House and Senate committees on telecommunications issues. He is also a member of the Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit bars.
Paul Rafelson - Paul Rafelson is an experienced attorney with over 15 years in complex tax, litigation and M&A matters. He spent the majority of his career in-house at some of the largest companies in the world: Microsoft, Walmart & General Electric. His current practice is focused on ecommerce businesses in M&A, platform suspensions, intellectual property, and other disputes. In 2018 he founded the Online Merchants Guild (LINK), which has been cited in FTC statements regarding Amazon as well as filing lawsuits against Amazon. Paul is also a professor at Pace University School of Law in New York, where he teaches a constitutional law course on state taxation.
