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All Roomstech-labor · 4 pairs
Gentlemen's agreement

Silicon Valley No-Poach Cartel

Silicon Valley's preeminent titans—Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Pixar, and Intuit—promoted themselves to the world as fierce free-market meritocracies where engineering talent could command limitless compensation. Behind closed doors, Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt forged an illicit, wage-suppressing gentleman's agreement never to cold-call each other's engineers. When recruiters inadvertently broke the rule, they were fired within the hour. Jobs threatened competitors like Palm with patent extinction, while Schmidt told HR to keep the pact strictly verbal: 'do not create a paper trail over email.'

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Unsealed Divergence Pairs (4)

Chronological & Evasion Order
paper-trailtech-labor·2007 / unsealed 2014

Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt's handshake deal

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Public Register2007

Steve Jobs & Eric Schmidt

CEOs of Apple and Google · Joint public appearances and industry panels

“Silicon Valley is an open, merit-based ecosystem where engineers and designers are fiercely competed for based on world-class innovation and talent.”
Original ↗
Private ArtifactMarch 7, 2007

Steve Jobs to Eric Schmidt

private email exchange · Direct email from Jobs to Schmidt

“Jobs: 'I am told that your recruiter is aggressively trying to recruit an Apple engineer. I would be very pleased if we could stop this.' Schmidt to HR: 'Please get this recruiter fired within the hour.' Schmidt to Jobs: 'Recruiter terminated.' Jobs to Schmidt: ':)'”
Docket ↗
The Split:While celebrating fierce competition for talent, Jobs demanded the firing of an ordinary recruiter who contacted an Apple engineer. Schmidt complied within an hour, and Jobs replied with a smiley face.
The Tell:An anti-poaching pact is evidenced not by a grand conspiracy contract, but by a 2-character smiley face closing an executive backchannel.
Pipe: courtUnsealed in High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Cal.).
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paper-trailtech-labor·2007 / unsealed 2014

Keep it verbal, do not create a paper trail

Full-screen reader
Public Register2007

Google Code of Conduct

official employee policy · Google Investor Relations

“Don't be evil. We believe in transparency, honesty, and treating our employees and candidates with fairness and respect.”
Original ↗
Private Artifact2007

Eric Schmidt

CEO, Google · Internal email to Shona Brown, Senior VP of People Operations

“I would prefer that you keep this verbal and not create a paper trail over email, as I don't want to get sued later if someone subpoenas us.”
Docket ↗
The Split:Google preached 'Don't be evil' and corporate transparency. Eric Schmidt explicitly instructed his head of HR to keep the wage-suppressing hiring cartel strictly verbal so that no subpoena could uncover it.
The Tell:'Please do not put this in writing' is the purest admission of preference falsification in enterprise existence.
Pipe: courtDiscovery in Koh courtroom, San Jose federal court.
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euphemismtech-labor·2007 / unsealed 2014

Jobs threatening Palm with patent warfare

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Public Register2007

Steve Jobs

CEO, Apple · All Things Digital (D5 Conference)

“We don't worry about competitors copying our products or hiring our people. We just focus on making the best products in the world and letting customers decide.”
Original ↗
Private ArtifactAugust 2007

Steve Jobs to Edward Colligan

email correspondence · Direct email from Jobs to Palm CEO

“Colligan: 'Your proposal that we agree not to hire each other's employees is not only wrong, it is likely illegal.' Jobs: 'I'm sure you realize the asymmetry in the financial resources of our respective companies... We have substantial patents. Think about the consequences.'”
Docket ↗
The Split:Jobs told journalists he didn't worry about competitors hiring staff. When Palm CEO Ed Colligan told him a no-hire pact was illegal, Jobs threatened to crush Palm financially with patent litigation.
The Tell:The phrase 'focus on making great products' in public frequently masks predatory legal bullying behind the curtain.
Pipe: courtDOJ Antitrust unsealed exhibits.
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paper-trailtech-labor·2005 / unsealed 2014

If you hire a single one of these people that means war

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Public Register2005

Steve Jobs

Stanford Commencement Address & Keynotes · Stanford Commencement

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. Don’t settle.”
Original ↗
Private Artifact2005

Steve Jobs to Sergey Brin & Eric Schmidt

executive communications · Direct email to Google leadership

“If you hire a single one of these people from our iPod team, that means war. We will match you lawsuit for lawsuit and take this to the mat.”
Docket ↗
The Split:Jobs inspired a generation of graduates to never settle and follow their passion. Behind closed doors, when his engineers sought to move to Google, he privately threatened all-out corporate war unless Google blacklisted them.
The Tell:Inspirational rhetoric about empowering creative genius often masks behind-the-scenes cartels designed to suppress employee mobility.
Pipe: courtUnsealed in High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation.