Google Chairman Schmidt Says He 'Couldn't Stand' Apple's Board

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt said he remained on Apple Inc.'s board until he "couldn't stand" it any longer.

"I was on the board until I couldn't stand the board anymore," Schmidt said in a question-and-answer session with Salesforce.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff.

Schmidt also had praise for former Apple CEO Steve Jobs and said that he's "proud" of his stint as an Apple director.

"It's certainly the best performance of a CEO in 50 years," Schmidt said. "We've all benefited from the tremendous innovation at Apple. And I say this as a very proud former board member at Apple."

Schmidt was a director on Apple's board while he was CEO of Google. He exited the board as rivalry between the two companies accelerated.