Straight from the horse’s mouth:

Apple® today announced that Dr. Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, is resigning from Apple’s Board of Directors, a position he has held since August 2006. “Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board.”

On the board for two years? I can’t imagine how uncomfortable Dr. Schmidt must have been on the board, especially taking into consideration Android and the upcoming Chrome OS. Granted, I have decided come up with a few plausible reasons for his staying on the board, in spite of the (inferred) awkwardness. No supplementary Photoshopped images or anything – I’d just much do this than answer hundreds of e-mails at work. Also, you’ll notice that I was not afraid to dodge Occam’s Razor:

(1) Shareholders. Shareholders. Shareholders.

(2) Dr. Schmidt and Steve Jobs are actually brothers and they must unite for the inevitable rise of the machines. Little did Jobs know that Schmidt – after all of this time – is the creator of the machine. Bill Gates shakes his head in disappointment.

(3) The “Board of Directors” is actually a contraption developed by Nikola Tesla. And though it appeared to be the prestigious Dr. Eric Schmidt on the Board the entire time, it was actually his unknown twin brother, Mr. Derek Schmidt. Everything was going fine until now. Now, it’s simply a magic trick gone wrong.

(4) After the announcement of Chrome OS, Jobs discovered that Dr. Schmidt was also planning to create a new video game. Jobs then miraculously found a way to trap Dr. Schmidt in said game. In an attempt to not shed any light on the matter, Apple tried their best to avoid jumping into any news cycles.

(5) Eric. I am your father. After he had searched his feelings, he knew it to be true.

Any other ideas?