EU: Google bosses sued by shareholder over Android antitrust suit

The antitrust controversy swirling around Alphabet, the holding company for Google, just escalated a bit further. A shareholder this week filed a lawsuit that claims senior executives and the board of directors violated their duties to the company by blessing anti-competitive arrangements related to Android software.

In a 53-page complaint filed in state court, shareholder Robert Jessup accuses Alphabet CEO Larry Page, President Sergey Brin, and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt of mismanagement that could lead to $7.4 billion in fines at the hands of the European Commission, which is suing Google on a raft of antitrust charges.

“For years, the Board has allowed Alphabet to use Android as a Trojan Horse for other services offered by the Company – imposing anticompetitive restrictions on device manufacturers and developers through licensing arrangements for proprietary Android technology and applications,” the complaint reads.

The complaint also names board members, including renowned venture capitalist John Doerr and Stanford University President John Hennessy, as well as members of the firm’s audit committee. The lawsuit asks the defendants to compensate Alphabet for harm the company may suffer as a result of antitrust charges, and it asks the court to shake up Alphabet’s leadership structure.

Full Content: Fortune

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