Lina Khan To Co-chair Nyc Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s Transition Team

After Zohran Mamdani clinched nan New York City mayoral title connected Tuesday night, his run announced erstwhile FTC chair Lina Khan arsenic 1 of nan modulation team’s 4 co-chairs.

Khan has been an state of Mamdani’s, praising him successful a New York Times op-ed astir his outreach to mini business owners. But her assignment to a general domiciled connected his modulation squad sends a connection to Wall Street and nan tech industry, whose astir powerful players person already been captious of Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who ruffled nan feathers of nan tech elite by criticizing billionaires and proposing a 2% tax of incomes complete $1 million.

“What we saw past nighttime was New Yorkers not conscionable electing a caller mayor, but intelligibly rejecting a authorities wherever outsized firm powerfulness and money excessively often extremity up dictating our politics,” Khan said successful a speech connected Wednesday.

Khan described Mamdani’s triumph arsenic “a clear instruction for alteration wherever New Yorkers tin get ahead, and wherever each workers and mini businesses tin thrive — not conscionable get by.”

Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, arsenic good arsenic investors for illustration Bill Ackman and Mike Bloomberg, each spent millions of dollars to reason Mamdani and advocator for erstwhile New York politician Andrew Cuomo, who vanished 2nd successful nan polls. DoorDash besides gave $1 million to a pro-Cuomo ace PAC. Mamdani’s platform, however, advocated for accrued regularisation of transportation apps and protections for their subcontracted gig workers.

Like Mamdani, Khan has enemies successful precocious places. As an outspoken professional of tech giants for illustration Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google, Khan moved to artifact various high-profile tech mergers during her tenure successful nan Biden administration. When those actions failed, galore successful Silicon Valley still held Khan responsible for slowing down nan travel of acquisition deals.

Even those who supported nan Biden-Harris statesmanlike ticket, for illustration LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and billionaire investor Vinod Khosla, were public astir their criticisms of Khan; successful an question and reply pinch TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos past year, Khosla described Khan arsenic “not a logical quality being.”

Khan, a professor astatine Columbia Law School, is described arsenic “the nation’s starring antimonopoly champion” connected Mamdani’s transition website.

In summation to Khan, nan different 3 co-chairs see Grace Bonilla, president and CEO of nan non-profit United Way of New York City; Maria Torres-Springer, nan erstwhile first lawman politician of New York City; and Melanie Hartzog, president and CEO of nan non-profit New York Foundling.

The 4 will beryllium led by Elana Leopold, an advisor to Mamdani’s run who held various elder roles crossed nan de Blasio mayoral administration.