Andrew N. Ferguson

Rule Changes

Voted against filing the lawsuit; now leads the settlement

A mom-and-pop liquor store that competes with a Walmart across the street now has a new legal claim against the distributor that supplies both. Under a settlement the Federal Trade Commission announced October 2, Southern Glazer's — the largest U.S. wine and spirits distributor — must pay independent retailers 1.5 times any price gap it charged them versus nearby chains.

Updated 3 days ago

Rule Changes

Leads FTC during the Corteva settlement

American farmers paid elevated prices for crop protection because the two biggest pesticide makers paid distributors to block cheaper generic rivals. That's the theory behind a four-year antitrust case the Federal Trade Commission and 12 states brought. On September 28, it closed against Corteva.

Updated Sep 29

Rule Changes

Chaired the Commission vote to issue the Beretta complaint

Federal regulators stepped in to keep two of America's biggest gun makers from sharing board members. The FTC accepted a consent order on September 16 that bars Beretta Holding from appointing anyone to Ruger's board unless that person is independent of Beretta.

Updated Sep 16

Rule Changes

In office

The Federal Trade Commission rescinded its 2021 policy statement that required health apps and connected devices to notify users when their health data is breached. The agency said the guidance was obsolete, superseded by a 2024 rulemaking that already extended the underlying Health Breach Notification Rule to those products.

Updated Sep 10

Rule Changes

Oversaw the settlement authorization

In 2014, OkCupid quietly funneled nearly three million user photos, along with demographic and location data, to Clarifai, a facial recognition startup backed by OkCupid's own co-founders. Users never consented, and OkCupid's privacy policy said this wouldn't happen. When a New York Times article exposed the arrangement five years later, OkCupid publicly denied it.

Updated May 30

Money Moves

Will oversee antitrust review of the deal

Sysco, which delivers food to roughly one in every six restaurants in America, announced on March 30 that it would buy Jetro Restaurant Depot—the nation's largest cash-and-carry wholesaler—for $29.1 billion. The deal combines Sysco's truck delivery with Restaurant Depot's 166 warehouse stores, where independent owners load items and pay cash, creating a company serving over a million customers.

Updated May 30

Rule Changes

Leading FTC's appeal of the district court ruling

The Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification form went largely unchanged for 48 years. When the Federal Trade Commission tripled its compliance burden in 2024, business groups sued, and a Texas federal judge just agreed.

Updated May 29

Rule Changes

Serving as FTC Chair since January 2025

The United States raised the federal antitrust review threshold to $133.9 million on February 15, 2026—up from $126.4 million the previous year. Companies planning mergers or acquisitions above this threshold must file premerger notifications with the FTC and DOJ and await government clearance before closing.

Updated May 29

Rule Changes

Oversees the Arm probe under a Republican-led FTC

Arm Holdings designs the chip architecture found in roughly 99% of smartphones and a growing share of data-center processors. On May 6 it reported record quarterly results. Five days later, Bloomberg revealed the Federal Trade Commission had opened an antitrust probe into how the company distributes those designs.

Updated May 20

Rule Changes

Appointed January 20, 2025

The FTC just tore up its own rulebook. On December 22, 2025, the agency voted 2-0 to reverse a year-old enforcement action against Rytr, an AI writing tool accused of enabling fake reviews.

Updated May 16