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A surprising figure is celebrating Figma\u2019s successful IPO: Lina Khan, former chair of the Federal Trade Commission.<\/p>\n
In a Friday afternoon post on X<\/a>, Khan linked to an article<\/a> about Figma\u2019s impressive first day of trading<\/a> and argued the IPO is \u201ca great reminder that letting startups grow into independently successful businesses, rather than be bought up by existing giants, can generate enormous value.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan was alluding to a $20 billion deal for Adobe to acquire Figma that fell through<\/a> back in 2023. While Adobe cited the lack of a \u201cclear path\u201d to approval from the European Commission and the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, the acquisition also faced regulatory scrutiny in the United States over concerns that it could prevent Figma from being an \u201ceffective competitor\u201d to Adobe.<\/p>\n Khan was FTC chair at the time, leading the agency to challenge Big Tech on fronts including startup acquisitions \u2014 to the point that companies tried to avoid this scrutiny with \u201creverse acqui-hires\u201d in which they hired key team members and licensed technology rather than acquiring startups outright. (The practice seems to be continuing<\/a> despite Khan\u2019s departure from the FTC.)<\/p>\n While her aggressive stance led to intense criticism from corners of the tech industry, she defended her approach<\/a> by saying that only a tiny percentage of deals received \u201ca second look\u201d and arguing that founders would ultimately benefit from \u201ca world in which you have six or seven or eight potential suitors\u201d rather than \u201cjust one or two.\u201d<\/p>\n And although Khan \u2014 who\u2019d been appointed by President Joe Biden \u2014 resigned at the start<\/a> of the second Trump administration, her comments Friday paint the Figma IPO as a vindication for her approach, calling the IPO \u201ca win for employees, investors, innovation, and the public.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Khan\u2019s critics are more likely to see Figma\u2019s success as coming despite regulatory scrutiny, not because of it. For example, Wedbush Security analyst Dan Ives told Business Insider<\/a>, \u201cFigma is a massive success, but it\u2019s because of the company\u2019s innovative growth and not due to the FTC and Kahn.\u201d<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n