FTC to hold ‘last rites’ meeting before likely Amazon suit

Amazon officials have been called into meetings next week with commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, marking what is almost certainly the final step before the agency files a long-expected antitrust lawsuit against the e-commerce giant.

According to two people with knowledge of discussions between Amazon and the FTC, Amazon officials will meet with each of the FTC’s three commissioners during the week of Aug. 14. Amazon and the FTC declined to comment.

The move is the clearest sign yet that FTC Chair Lina Khan intends to soon file an antitrust suit against Amazon. The meeting will be a so-called “last rites” meeting that generally precedes a lawsuit.

The agency has spent years probing the company’s practices on a number of fronts, and a lawsuit is expected as soon as this month. If the suit is successful, it could ultimately lead to the breakup of Amazon’s $1.3 trillion e-commerce empire.