How a Top Antitrust Official Helped T-Mobile and Sprint Merge

As the $26 billion blockbuster merger between T-Mobile and Sprint teetered this summer, Makan Delrahim, the head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, labored to rescue it behind the scenes, according to text messages revealed in a lawsuit to block the deal. Delrahim connected company executives with the Federal Communications Commission and members of Congress. And he gave executives insight into the thinking of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who would also have to approve the merger. He is “open and willing” to discussions about the deal, Delrahim said in one text message in June, a month before regulators blessed the transaction. The text messages show that he played a crucial role in bringing together top executives of T-Mobile, Sprint and another company, Dish, for negotiations. The Justice Department has said it would not have approved the merger without the emergence of another competitor like Dish.