Schmidt resigns from Apple’s board of directors

by Steve Ragan - Aug 3 2009, 15:45

Citing conflict of interest with Android and now Chrome OS, Apple announced this morning that Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, will resign from their board of directors. It should also be noted that Schmidt’s split from Apple’s board comes at a time when the FTC is starting to sniff around looking to see if Google’s relationship to Apple could hinder competition.

“Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful,” said Steve Jobs said in a statement.

Rumor about this break has existed for a while. It reached its peak after Google announced Chrome OS via a smattering of blog posts. The interesting thing is that earlier this year, Schmidt said he has no plans to leave Apple’s board. This is because Google simply doesn’t see Apple as a major competitor. Apparently, this changed over the weekend.

“Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board,” Jobs added.

On Friday, the FTC started taking a closer look at the relationship between Google (via their CEO) and Apple, going so far as to send letters to both companies and AT&T, seeking information on why Google Voice was rejected as an application on the iPhone. While the letters and possible investigation by the FTC is cause for some interest, the fact that it's Google and Apple add more fuel to the rumor mill, especially now that the breakup is official.

"I have very much enjoyed my time on the Apple Board; it's a fantastic company," said Schmidt in a statement. "But as Apple explained today we've agreed it makes sense for me to step down now."

The resignation announced this morning is obviously for the best. Google is growing into a powerhouse, and having their CEO serve on the board of directors for the competition, direct or indirect, just isn’t a wise business move. Google has their hands in so many areas of technology, from SaaS to hardware, and now a planned full on assault into the operating system arena, being called out on conflict of interest was bound to happen sooner or later.

Schmidt has been a member of Apple’s board of directors since 2006.

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