Increased antitrust scrutiny against Big Tech companies is making us carefully examine the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Alphabet (GOOGL) and the potential implications for this Club holding and other mega-caps.
Jim Cramer Monday spoke with Jonathan Kanter, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice, in an exclusive “Mad Money” interview. While Kanter said he could not comment on the government’s case against Alphabet because it was ongoing, he did offer some insight into how he’s enforcing the antitrust law in today’s market.
Kanter emphasized, in a broader way, that he’s investigating cases to “determine if the conduct that a company is engaging in keeping others from competing effectively without providing the benefits to the marketplace participants.” Kanter left no doubt that if he believes a company is exhibiting classic monopolistic practices as defined by the Sherman Antitrust Act, he will pursue it until management changes their ways.
As Kanter put it, “Does it lessen competition or does it tend to create a monopoly?” If, he continued, either risk is present, the department will pursue a case against the company. His case explores a variety of ways that Alphabet has thwarted the online advertising market to the detriment of both advertisers and publisher.
While Kanter made it clear that there could be no direct comment about the case, it has been something that Jim Cramer believes has hurt the valuation of this Charitable Trust name. Jim and Jeff Marks intend to discuss what Kanter’s general comments mean for Alphabet and others in what he calls the Magnificent Seven in their Morning Meeting tomorrow at 10:20 ET.
(Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long GOOGL. See here for a full list of the stocks.)
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