On Monday, Google announced that Dr. Arthur Levinson has resigned from the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. Levinson has been on the Google board since April 2004.
His resignation comes on the heels of Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt’s resignation from Apple’s board in August. Schmidt served on Apple’s board since 2006 and resigned, citing conflicts of interest.
“Art has been a key part of Google’s success these past five years, offering unvarnished advice and vital counsel on every big issue and opportunity Google has faced,” Schmidt said. “Though he leaves as a member of our board, Art will always have a special place at Google.”
The FTC Inquiry
Levinson has served as a corporate director of Apple since 2000 and is the president and chairman of Genentech, a biotech company. “Working with Eric, Larry, Sergey and the whole Google team has been a remarkable experience for me,” Levinson said. “I greatly admire what they’ve built and have no doubt that Google has a terrific future.”
While neither Schmidt nor Levinson offered a reason for Levinson’s departure, a Federal Trade Commission inquiry into the board overlap between Google and Apple seems to have motivated the recent splits. The FTC launched an inquiry in May to investigate whether there were opportunities for collusion between the two companies.
When Schmidt resigned from the Apple board, Apple said it was a mutual decision. Apple CEO Steve Jobs spelled out in no uncertain terms that Google was entering into more of Apple’s core business with its Android and Chrome operating systems. Although Schmidt was a valued board member, Jobs said, his effectiveness would be significantly diminished since he would have to recuse himself from even larger portions of Apple’s meetings due to potential conflicts of interest.
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