The US Department of Justice says it has expressed concerns that the positions of directors on the boards of two companies violate the Clayton Act.
Two directors of Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, who were appointed by Chinese technology company Tencent Holdings, have resigned from their positions in the wake of an antitrust investigation in the United States.
The US Department of Justice said in a statement on Wednesday that it “expressed concerns” that the positions of directors on both Epic’s and Tencent’s boards violate the Clayton Act because Tencent owns Riot Games, a Los Angeles-based video game franchise. E-sports developer and organizer.
Section 8 of the Clayton Act “prohibits directors and officers from serving simultaneously on the boards of competing companies, subject to limited exceptions,” according to the Department of Justice.
“Scrutinizing interlocking directorates continues to be an enforcement priority for the Antitrust Division,” said Deputy Director for Civil Enforcement Miriam R. Vecchio of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
Epic Games and the US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. Tencent declined to comment.
Other than Fortnite, Epic Games is also known as the developer of the Unreal Engine, which is a leading 3D video game engine.
North Carolina-based Epic Games is privately owned, but Tencent holds a minority stake in the company among its “equity investments” in other video game and media companies, according to the Justice Department.
Other investors in Epic Games include Sony, Disney, Fidelity, and BlackRock.
Tencent, one of the world’s largest multimedia companies, is headquartered in the Cayman Islands, although its headquarters are in Shenzhen, according to the Department of Justice.
The statement did not mention any national security concerns about Tencent or its Chinese ownership, in contrast to the US government’s approach toward other Chinese technology companies, such as ByteDance, which owns the social media platform TikTok.
The video-sharing app is scheduled to be banned in the United States starting January 19 if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell the platform.
After the investigation, Tencent “decided to amend its shareholder agreement with Epic to waive its unilateral right to appoint directors or observers to Epic’s board of directors in the future,” according to the Justice Department.
The statement also said that despite the resignation of the two unnamed directors, “no company or individual has admitted liability in connection with this investigation.”
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