Breakup of Tech Giants 'on the Table,' U.S. Antitrust Chief Says

By Rob Copeland

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- A breakup of the U.S. tech giants is "perfectly on the table," Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim said Tuesday.

Speaking at the WSJ Tech Live summit, Mr. Delrahim laid out the worst case scenario for Silicon Valley as his antitrust investigation takes shape.

He said there is no doubt that consumers have benefited from the technology revolution, but that questions remain about potential anticompetitive behavior.

"Big is not bad," Mr. Delrahim said. "Big behaving badly is bad."

Mr. Delrahim didn't discuss the department's examination of specific companies.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that his boss, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, is pushing a broad antitrust review looking at Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Amazon.com Inc., and Apple Inc.

Write to Rob Copeland at rob.copeland@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 22, 2019 13:49 ET (17:49 GMT)

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