If you’ve spent any time following the high-stakes world of antitrust law or big tech regulation lately, you’ve definitely heard the name Lina Khan. She’s the legal scholar who basically set the tech world on fire before she even hit her mid-thirties. But beyond her "Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox" paper and her aggressive stance at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), people are constantly asking a more personal question: how old is Lina Khan?
It’s not just idle gossip. In Washington D.C., age is usually synonymous with "seniority" or "paying your dues." Khan broke that mold.
The Numbers: Breaking Down Lina Khan’s Age
Lina Khan was born on March 3, 1989. As of right now, in early 2026, Lina Khan is 36 years old.
When President Joe Biden nominated her to the FTC back in 2021, she was just 32. That made her the youngest chair in the history of the agency. To put that in perspective, most people at 32 are still trying to figure out how to manage a mid-sized team or save for a down payment, not taking on Google, Meta, and Amazon all at once.
She was born in London to Pakistani parents and moved to the United States when she was 11. That move from the UK to suburban New York (Mamaroneck, to be specific) probably shaped a lot of her perspective on how different systems work.
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Why Everyone Is Obsessed With Her Age
Honestly, the reason people keep searching for how old is Lina Khan is that her age was used as a weapon by her critics.
From the moment she took office, the "New Brandeis" movement she leads—often called "Hipster Antitrust" by people who don't like it—was framed as a bunch of young, idealistic outsiders who didn't understand the "real" economy. Her age became a proxy for "inexperience."
The logic from the old guard went something like this: How can a woman in her early 30s understand the complexities of a multi-trillion-dollar digital economy that took forty years to build?
But her supporters saw it differently. To them, her age was her greatest asset. She grew up as a digital native. She didn't have to "learn" how the internet changed commerce; she lived it. While older regulators were still trying to apply 1970s logic to 2020s algorithms, Khan was looking at the actual architecture of the platforms.
A Career That Moved at Warp Speed
If you look at her timeline, it’s kinda wild. It wasn't just luck; it was a series of massive intellectual hits.
- 2010: Graduates from Williams College. She was the editor-in-chief of the student paper there.
- 2017: Graduates from Yale Law. This is the year she publishes the "Amazon" paper that basically broke the internet (at least the legal part of it).
- 2018-2020: Works as a fellow at the FTC and counsel for the House Judiciary Committee.
- 2021: Becomes the Chair of the FTC at 32.
By the time she left her post as Chair in January 2025 (succeeded by Andrew N. Ferguson), she had already fundamentally shifted the way the U.S. government thinks about monopolies. Whether you loved her or hated her, you couldn't ignore her.
Life After the FTC
Now that she’s 36 and back in academia as an associate professor at Columbia Law School, she isn't exactly fading into the background. In late 2025, she was even tapped to help with transition teams for local government leaders in New York.
People often wonder if she’ll run for office or return to a high-level cabinet position in the future. Given that she’s still in the very early stages of her career—most politicians don't even get started until their 50s—she basically has three more decades of influence left if she wants them.
What We Can Learn From the "Lina Khan" Era
The fascination with her age boils down to a shift in power. We are seeing a younger generation of legal scholars who aren't afraid to challenge the "Consumer Welfare Standard"—the idea that as long as prices are low, a monopoly is fine.
Khan argued that market power matters more than just the price of a toaster on Amazon. She looked at how these companies control the very infrastructure of our lives.
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Next Steps for You:
- Read her original work: If you want to understand why she’s so controversial, go back and read Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox. It’s long, but it’s surprisingly readable for a legal document.
- Follow the current FTC: Now that the leadership has shifted, watch how many of Khan’s cases (like the ones against Kroger/Albertsons or the big tech suits) actually hold up in court.
- Check out the "New Brandeis" movement: If you're interested in the "why" behind her actions, look into scholars like Tim Wu or Barry Lynn. They provide the intellectual backbone for everything Khan did at the FTC.
Lina Khan might be 36, but in the world of policy, she’s already a veteran. The "youngest ever" label will follow her forever, but her impact on how we buy, sell, and live online is what will actually stick.