Arthur Levinson
Google has announced that Arthur Levinson, the former CEO of Genentech has resigned, effective immediately, from Google’s Board of Directors. Levinson had been on the Google Board of Directors since 2004, and on the Apple Board of Directors since 2000, where he still remains.
Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt described Levinson as a good friend and valued colleague. “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.”
“Working with Eric, Larry, Sergey and the whole Google team has been a remarkable experience for me. I greatly admire what they’ve built and have no doubt that Google has a terrific future,” said Levinson.
Levinson’s position on both companies’ Board had helped fuel the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) investigation, looking into the increasing competition between the companies. Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned in August for the same reason: Mounting competition between the two companies.
Now that both men have resigned the FTC has agreed to drop the investigation, as now the the two companies have no high profile internal ties to each other.
NYTimes:
Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the trade commission, praised the decision by Mr. Levinson and the companies. “Google, Apple, and Mr. Levinson should be commended for recognizing that overlapping board members between competing companies raise serious antitrust issues and for their willingness to resolve our concerns without the need for litigation,” Mr. Leibowitz said in a statement. “Beyond this matter, we will continue to monitor companies that share board members and take enforcement actions where appropriate.”
Apple has just recently passed Google in market value.
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