Englewood Native Resigns Federal Trade Commission Post

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, an Englewood native, will step down Feb. 15 after about four years leading online privacy efforts and working to stop anticompetitive business, the agency announced Friday. 

Leibowitz, a 54-year-old Dwight-Englewood School graduate, told the New York Times he would likely take a position in the private sector. 

“Our small but mighty agency has safeguarded the privacy of Americans and stopped predatory financial practices by companies taking advantage of cash-strapped consumers," Leibowitz said in a statement. "Our antitrust enforcement has helped contain health care and drug costs, and helped reduce prices and increase innovation for smartphones, computer chips and other high-tech products.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Leibowitz cited cases his agency brought against Facebook and Google for violating their privacy policies. He oversaw an investigation and settlement with Google in an antitrust case. 

"I felt like this was a good time to leave because we got through a number of things that I wanted the commission to address,” he told the Times. 

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