On August 3, 2009, Apple announced that Eric E. Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google, was stepping down from its board. “We have been investigating the Google/Apple interlocking directorates issue for some time and commend them for recognizing that sharing directors raises competitive issues, as Google and Apple increasingly compete with each other,” said Bureau of Competition Director Richard Feinstein. “We will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between the companies.”
The FTC’s Bureau of Competition works with the Bureau of Economics to investigate alleged anticompetitive business practices and, when appropriate, recommends that the Commission take law enforcement action.
Goldman writes, “That’s a big time bummer for Apple and Google, both of which are facing various levels of federal inquiry. Neither needs to be attracting more government attention, and the statement by the FTC just goes to show how late Apple and Google were in recognizing the conflicts of interest Schmidt’s ongoing role on Apple’s board posed… Former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson still serves on both boards. I don’t see that continuing very much longer and it sure will be interesting – and send a very intriguing message – when he ultimately chooses one board over another. Same goes with Al Gore.”
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