CEO Eric Schmidt on Google, Apple and Microsoft

When Eric Schmidt joined Google http://www.google.com eight years ago, he didn’t think the popular startup was destined to become one of Microsoft’s http://www.microsoft.com most formidable challengers. As Schmidt said in an exclusive interview with the Mercury News recently, he didn’t even think Google would ever make a significant amount of money.

But that didn’t matter. Schmidt had already had an illustrious career as a top executive at Sun Microsystems http://www.sun.com and, more recently, as chief executive at Novell. He wanted to have good conversations and be around interesting people he liked who were working on cool technology. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin fit the bill, with an emphasis on "interesting." And thus was born one of the most successful management teams in recent history.

Near the fifth anniversary of Google’s initial public stock offering, Schmidt recalls some of his early, jarring days as Google’s top executive, explains the company’s unique relationship with Apple http://www.apple.com and addresses recent scrutiny of its business practices. The following is an edited transcript.

By Elise Ackerman

Full Story: http://www.mercurynews.com/google/ci_12953995?nclick_check=1