- Business Insider found that three of the lawmakers charged with questioning big tech CEOs as part of a congressional antitrust investigation own shares in some of the companies being investigated.
- CEOs of Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet will give highly anticipated testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Monday.
- Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Jim Sensenbrenner and Steve Chabot are members of the committee that will question CEOs on Monday. Each member owns shares in at least one of those companies, according to their latest financial disclosures.
- Sensenbrenner, the highest-ranking member of the House of Representatives Antitrust Subcommittee, owns nearly $ 100,000 in the four companies combined.
- It is not illegal for lawmakers to own shares in individual companies, but the holdings could create conflicts of interest or undermine public confidence in the investigation.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Three of the lawmakers leading an antitrust investigation on Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google also own shares in one or more of those companies, creating potential conflicts of interest as the investigation approaches a crucial day of testimony on Monday.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, owner of Google and YouTube, will testify Monday before the House Judiciary Committee. Lawmakers are nearing the end of a month-long investigation to determine whether tech companies misused their market dominance to unfairly suppress competition.
But Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, who is the highest-ranking member of the House of Representatives’ Antimonopoly Subcommittee, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Steve Chabot also own shares in those companies, according to their latest financial disclosures. The three members of the House Judiciary Committee will be tasked with questioning tech CEOs on Monday.
It is not illegal for lawmakers to own shares in companies, even when an investigation into those companies is underway. But the holdings could create potential conflicts of interest or undermine public confidence in the research.
Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican and the leading Republican representative on the antitrust committee, owns more than $ 98,000 of stock in the four companies combined. He owns $ 26,658 on Apple, $ 27,035 on Amazon, $ 37,384 on Alphabet and $ 7,341 on Facebook, according to his latest financial disclosure.
Lofgren, a California Democrat, owns between $ 1,000 and $ 15,000 of shares in Facebook, Apple and Alphabet each, according to her most recent financial disclosure. She reported that she sold some of those shares in each company in the past year, but did not specify the exact amount that was sold.
Chabot, an Ohio Republican, owns between $ 15,000 and $ 50,000 of Facebook stock, according to his most recent release.
A Sensenbrenner spokesman said the congressman’s shares are in a trust established by Sensenbrenner’s late father and that he is not actively managing the portfolio. A Lofgren spokeswoman said her shares are in a reinvestment IRA administered by her husband and that she does not manage the holdings.
A Chabot spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
These are not the first legislators to scrutinize for owning shares of companies that are tasked with investigating. Stat News reported Monday that Representatives Joe Kennedy and Michael Burgess are members of a House committee that will question pharmaceutical companies about the COVID-19 investigation, despite the fact that both representatives own shares in those companies.
The Judicial Committee investigation is aimed at investigating whether the four tech giants have amassed so much power that it is impossible for smaller competitors to gain a foothold. The investigation is far-reaching and could be a turning point in a broader backlash against the power of tech companies.
Monday’s testimony is also highly anticipated as the Justice Department is preparing a possible antitrust lawsuit against Google, and both Amazon and Facebook are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.
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