August 4th, 2009
FTC: Our probe of Google-Apple boards continues
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple’s board but that won’t be enough to curtail a probe by the Federal Trade Commission.
In a terse statement, FTC bureau of competition director Richard Feinstein said:
“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. We will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between the companies.”
Reuters reports that Schmidt’s resignation would usually close an FTC investigation of interlocking boards. However, former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson is on the boards of Apple and Google.
It’s likely Levinson will be forced to pick one of the companies.
More on the Schmidt resignation from Apple’s board:
- It’s official: Google and Apple are competitors (especially in mobile)
- Google’s Schmidt resigns from Apple’s board; Jobs: It would be recusal city
- David Morgenstern: Apple Board vacancy: Good riddance to Eric Schmidt
- Jason O’Grady: Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board
- Richard Koman: Schmidt’s departure does nothing to stem scrutiny of Apple
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.
Subscribe to Between the Lines via Email alerts or RSS.
