After four years as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Edith Ramirez will resign her post effective Feb. 10, 2017.
Ramirez has been chair of the FTC since Mar. 4, 2013, and has served as an FTC Commissioner since she was appointed by President Barack Obama on Apr. 5, 2010.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to lead the Federal Trade Commission and to have played a role in advancing American consumers’ ability to navigate fast-paced digital markets and promoting business competition across the economy,” Ramirez said. “I thank my fellow Commissioners and all of the talented FTC staff for their support and dedicated public service during my tenure.”
During Ramirez’s time as chair, the FTC brought nearly 400 law enforcement actions and 100 actions challenging anticompetitive mergers and business conduct. These actions resulted in billions of dollars in redress for consumers. One was $10 billion compensation settlement with Volkswagen Group of America for consumers deceived by VW’s “clean diesel” advertising campaign.
She also oversaw a settlement where a pharmaceutical company had to pay out $1.2 billion for delaying generic competition for a sleep disorder drug.
The FTC also challenged mergers by Sysco and U.S. Foods as well as Staples and Office Depot.
Ramirez also spearheaded FTC efforts to provide best practice reports to companies on a range of topics, including patent assertion entities, the sharing economy, the Internet of Things, and big data, among other topics.
She was the first FTC Chair to receive a Trumpeter Award from the National Consumers League.