The Federal Trade Commission is continuing a probe into board of directors seats at Google and Apple. The closer look at executives who sit on both companies’ boards began before Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple’s board on Monday.
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Schmidt left the Cupertino, Calif.-based company because of increasing competition between Google and Apple, notably Google’s entrance into the mobile market with Android, its Chrome browser, and its recent launch of the Chrome Operating System.
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One board relationship that stands out is former Vice President Al Gore’s presence at both tech giants. Gore has been an Apple director since March 2003 and a senior adviser to Google since before that.
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But it doesn’t end there. Arthur Levinson, former chief executive at Genentech, is also a director on the Apple and Google boards.
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subheadInterlocking Directorates/subhead
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The FTC’s Bureau of Competition works with its Bureau of Economics to investigate alleged anticompetitive business practices. While it’s not illegal for executives to sit on the boards of multiple companies, the FTC believes the practice may affect competition between Google and Apple.
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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 Richard Feinstein, the director of the Bureau of Competition. We will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between the companies.
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Neither Apple nor Google responded to inquiries about whether Levinson might resign from the board of either company.
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subheadFCC Also Investigating/subhead
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Apple is also being investigated by the Federal Communications Commission after it rejected a Google app, Google Voice Mobile, from its App Store. Apple also removed previously approved applications, including the similar GV Mobile by developer Sean Kovacs. Investigators are questioning whether the rejections were influenced by Apple iPhone carrier ATT.
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Maybe with the FCC’s involvement,…