Filip Novotny The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 shook the mobile phone industry considerably. Furthermore, it also fundamentally changed the mutual relations of a number of companies that compete for the favor of customers in this field – the most prominent is the rivalry between Apple and Google. The subsequent introduction of the Android operating system triggered an avalanche of intellectual property lawsuits, and Eric Schmidt had to resign from Apple's board of directors. Steve Jobs then immediately declared thermonuclear war on Android. But as the newly obtained emails show, the complicated relationship between the tech giants existed long before that.
Interesting information regarding Apple and Google has surfaced thanks to a recent government investigation. The US Department of Justice did not like mutual agreements regarding the recruitment of new employees - Apple, Google and several other high-tech companies pledged to each other not to actively search for job candidates among their partners.
These unwritten agreements took different forms and were often individual according to the companies in question. Microsoft, for example, limited the agreement to senior management positions, while others opted for a broader solution. Such arrangements have been introduced by companies such as Intel, IBM, Dell, eBay, Oracle or Pixar in recent years. But it all started with an agreement between Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt (then CEO of Google).
You can now read about this pragmatic arrangement in authentic e-mails from Apple and Google employees, on Jablíčkář in Czech translation. The main actor of mutual communication is Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google and head of its IT department. He and his colleagues were often in contact with Steve Jobs himself, who suspected Google of violating their mutual recruitment agreement. As can be seen in the following correspondence, the relationship between Apple and Google has been problematic for a long time. The introduction of Android, which for Jobs represented a betrayal by Eric Schmidt, then only brought this rivalry to its present form.
Date: February 13, 2005, 13:06 pm
Pro: emg@google.com; Joan Brady
Subject: An angry phone call from Steve Jobs
So Steve Jobs called me today and he was very angry. It was about recruiting people from their team. Jobs is convinced that we are developing a browser and trying to get the team that works on Safari. He even made a few indirect threats, but personally I wouldn't take them seriously because he got carried away a lot.
However, I told him that we don't develop the browser, and as far as I know, we don't systematically target the Safari team directly in recruiting. I said we should talk about our opportunities. And also that I will not let it float and look at our recruitment strategy regarding Apple and Safari. I think that calmed him down.
I wanted to ask what this problem looks like and how we want to approach recruiting people from our partners or friendly companies. As for the browser, I know and I told him that we have people from Mozilla who work mostly on Firefox. I didn't mention that we might release an improved version, but I'm still not sure if we ever will. On the recruiting side - I recently heard that one candidate from Apple had browser experience, so I'd say he was from the Safari team. I told Steve that, and he said he didn't mind if someone came to us and we hired them, but he didn't mind systematic persuasion. I don't know if we really systematically try to do that.
So please let me know how we are doing and how you think we should set our policy.
Date: February 17, 2005, 20:20 pm
Pro: emg@google.com; joan@google.com; Bill Campbell
Copy: arnnon@google.com
Subject: Re: FW: [Fwd: RE: Angry phone call from Steve Jobs]
So Steve Jobs called me again angrily. I don't think we should change our recruiting strategy because of this, but I thought I should let you know. He basically told me "if you hire even one of those people it will mean war". I told him I can't promise any result but I will discuss it again with management. I asked if he expected our offers to be withdrawn and he said yes.
I looked at the data below again and I think we shouldn't just stop at the changes to the Employee Referral Program because Jobs mentioned basically the entire team. The compromise would be to continue the offer we have already made (vs censored by the court), but not to offer anything to other candidates unless they receive permission from Apple.
In any case, we will not make any offers to Apple people or contact them until we have had a chance to discuss.
-Sergey
At the moment, Apple and Google have agreed to ban the active recruitment of the other company's employees. Note the posting date, two years later everything was different.
Date: February 26, 2005, 05:28 pm
Pro:
Subject: Google
All,
please add Google to the list of banned companies. We recently agreed not to recruit new employees among ourselves. So if you hear that they are looking in our ranks, be sure to let me know.
Also, please make sure we honor our part of the deal.
Thanks,
Danielle
Google uncovers mistakes in its recruitment team and Schmidt himself takes the necessary steps:
Date: Sep 7, 2005, 22:52 pm
Pro: emg@google.com; Campbell, Bill; arnon@google.com
Subject: A phone call from Meg Whitman
DO NOT FORWARD
Meg (then CEO of eBay) she called me about our hiring practices. This is what she told me:
- All the tech companies are whispering about Google because we're raising salaries across the board. People today are just waiting for our downfall so they can scold us for our "unfair" practices.
- We gain nothing from our recruitment policy, but only harm our competitors. It looks like somewhere in Google we are targeting eBay and allegedly trying to hurt Yahoo!, eBay and Microsoft. (I denied this.)
- One of our recruiters called Maynard Webb (their COO) and met with him. Our man said this:
a) Google is looking for a new COO.
b) This position will be valued at $10 million over 4 years.
c) The COO will be part of the "successor CEO plan" (i.e. a candidate for CEO).
d) Maynard refused the offer.
Due to these (false) statements, I instructed Arnon to fire this recruiter for disciplinary action.
It was an annoying phone call from a good friend. We have to fix this.
Eric
Google recognizes that employment agreements can be challenged in court:
They're scumbags and we've known it for a few years.
and what are the laughs? that they didn't want to just give people to each other? or that they didn't want to overpay them senselessly?
It seems to me that these emails are theirs and nobody's business, I don't understand why I'm declassifying or publishing this kind of internal communication.
today the boss told me 3 times that it is necessary to break up telecom in our segment, so I can already see how in 10 years someone will take it out and do science with it.