Why did Adobe's $20 billion Figma deal fall apart, according to Dylan Field?

Dylan Field said regulators in the United States, the European Union and the UK's CMA opposed Adobe's $20 billion purchase of Figma, and the review dragged on for 16 months before the deal ended. He does not believe the deal was anti-competitive and called the regulators' arguments poor, saying they were fighting past battles and defining markets by history rather than by where technology was heading.

• Field cited Roomba as a warning: its acquisition by Amazon was blocked, Roomba went bankrupt and the market went to China.
• Field said he agreed to the deal because Figma was big enough to join Adobe without being absorbed, and the plan was for him to keep running Figma.

▸In their words

“16 months of regulatory review for any company is punishing.” Dylan Field · at 8:13 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg (2026-10-19). Read the whole episode summary →

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