Report: Top antitrust official leaving DOJ

The Justice Department's top antitrust official will leave by end of April, according to various reports.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Sharis Pozen, acting head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, will leave as soon as this spring. Pozen oversaw DOJ's successful effort to block AT&T's proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile after taking over in August for the departing Christine Varney.

The New York Times reports the leading candidate to replace Pozen is former Federal Trade Commission competition bureau director William J. Baer, currently head of the antitrust group at the law firm Arnold & Porter.

Both Varney and Pozen struck an aggressive stance at the nation's top antitrust regulator, culminating in the lawsuit that eventually forced AT&T to abandon its takeover and pay T-Mobile $4 billion in cash and spectrum.

The collapse of the deal was a stunning development after AT&T's concerted lobbying effort. It also served warning to industry that the administration would not look fondly upon deals that could reduce competition in fast-growing sectors like wireless technology.

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