They’ve zeroed in on what may sound like a nerdy legal theory, but one that could have huge implications: the tyranny of the intermediary, middleman companies that abuse their role by squeezing out competition or creating artificially expensive moats.
The Justice Department has already made one high-profile strike along these lines, suing to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation.
It is reportedly investigating at least two others.
One is RealPage, a property management company that uses artificial intelligence to suggest prices and has already been sued by renters accusing it of facilitating a new type of collusion.
The second is UnitedHealth Group, the health care conglomerate that owns a cobweb of businesses that include an insurer and another unit that employs about 10,000 physicians in the United States.
Persons:
Lina Khan, Jonathan Kanter, They’ve
Organizations:
Biden, Federal Trade Commission, Ticketmaster, UnitedHealth
Locations:
United States