Lina Khan points to Figma IPO as vindication of M&A scrutiny

Post by yard2010 » Sun, Aug 03, 2025, 10:22 AM UTC

dabedee wrote: post #177

I think the Figma IPO proves Khan was right. $60B market cap today vs the $20B Adobe offered in 2023. There was some criticism about regulatory overreach when the deal got blocked. Now Figma employees are rich, the design tools market stays competitive, and we have another major independent tech company instead of just another Adobe product line. This is exactly why we need regulators willing to tell Big Tech "no" so…

Post by MrGilbert » Sun, Aug 03, 2025, 10:38 AM UTC

madeofpalk wrote: post #182

ichik wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> design tools market stays competitive Adobe killed their Figma competitor (XD), so the reality of the UI design tools niche in the design tools market is that Figma actually has a near monopoly. Sketch still chugs along, but its market share is negligible. Penpot is a neat idealistic community effort that is lightyears behind. This is one of the reasons why Figma continues to tighten the screws on their userbase, w…

Figma has a near monopoly because it built the better product. This is the preferred outcome compared to Adobe broadening their monopoly not by building a better product, but just by acquiring/squashing their competition. Monopolies aren't illegal. Preventing competition is the thing we want to stop. As far as I can see, Figma doesn't do anything to give themselves an unfair advantage or prevent other players from en…

Post by shortrounddev2 » Sun, Aug 03, 2025, 10:42 AM UTC

aurareturn wrote: post #164

franga2000 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not arbitrary, there are many reasons to block the merger and they were explained in depth when the decision was made. Also, the EU and UK also made it clear they were against the merger. In fact, if you look at most reporting, the EU and UK seem to be the main reason they gave up, presumably because they know the US FTC has no teeth, even with a competent chair.

Even if EU and UK wanted to block the deal, it doesn't make it the right thing to do. Free market. I don't have a popular opinion on HN. I don't think Google should be broken up because new technology has made Google search much less needed. I don't think Apple should relinquish control over its app store because it's Apple's platform and they should do what they want. I don't think Adobe should be stopped from buyin…

Post by aurareturn » Sun, Aug 03, 2025, 10:44 AM UTC

Wilder7977 wrote: post #165

aurareturn wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if EU and UK wanted to block the deal, it doesn't make it the right thing to do. Free market. I don't have a popular opinion on HN. I don't think Google should be broken up because new technology has made Google search much less needed. I don't think Apple should relinquish control over its app store because it's Apple's platform and they should do what they want. I don't think Adobe should be stopped from buyin…

For someone who believes in free market, how is it acceptable to have consolidated monopolies? The market is free when there is competition. If there is no competition there is no freedom. Of course I know that for many "free market defenders" "competition is for losers" (was it Peter Thiel?), and ultimately nobody cares of the abstract value of freedom.

Post by lvl155 » Sun, Aug 03, 2025, 11:08 AM UTC