Another Google director resigns to pacify regulator
13 Oct 2009
Internet giant Google announced yesterday that one of its directors, Arthur Levinson, who is also on the board of computer maker Apple, has stepped down, in a move that severs ties between the boards of the two companies as it tries to resolve a regulatory probe on overlapping board memberships.
The resignation of Arthur Levinson comes after Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, stepped down from Apple's board in August, (See: Google chief, Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board) after Apple and Google had sought to earlier play down their being directly in competition on the crucial race to develop the next generation of software for mobile phones and personal computers.
The resignation of Arthur Levinson was welcomed by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has been conducting investigations into whether the two companies violated antitrust laws by sharing common board members.
The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 bars two rival companies from having common board members since they reduce competition between the two companies.
In a statement, Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of FTC indicated that the regulator was prepared to knock on the door of the court to force the two companies to sever their board ties.
''Google, Apple and. Levinson should be commended for recognising that overlapping board members between competing companies raise serious antitrust issues, and for their willingness to resolve our concerns without the need for litigation,''. Leibowitz said.
