Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz announced his resignation on Thursday in an interview in The New York Times, and the FTC on Friday morning confirmed his departure date of February 15, 2013. As Leibowitz said in a statement published by the FTC Friday:
“I have been honored to head this extraordinary, bipartisan Commission and to work alongside the best staff in federal government,” said Chairman Leibowitz. “Our small but mighty agency has safeguarded the privacy of Americans and stopped predatory financial practices by companies taking advantage of cash-strapped consumers. 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.”
Leibowitz told the Times he would likely move on to the private sector. He joined the FTC as a commissioner in 2004 and was appointed chairman by President Obama in 2009.
