Disney CEO: Dead Steve Jobs choc-blocked me!

Disney CEO Bob Iger would be helping to guide Google these days, were it not for one Steven P. Jobs.

The mouseketeer-in-chief said Apple cofounder Steve Jobs convinced him not to take a spot on Google's board a few years ago, citing the ongoing conflict between Apple and the Chocolate Factory.

In the new biography Becoming Steve Jobs, Iger is quoted as saying that the Apple founder was a close friend, and that on at least one occasion, Jobs pulled Iger away from Google.

Because of their friendship, Iger also turned down an invitation from Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt to be on Google's board. 'He told me he'd get jealous,' says Iger.

The book goes on to describe the friendship between Iger and Jobs, claiming that the Disney boss would frequently chat with Steve, three to four times per week, before Jobs' health problems forced him out of his role at Apple.

Jobs held a seat on Disney's board following the cartoon giant's acquisition of Pixar in 2006 for $7.4bn (Jobs owned Pixar at the time). Following Jobs' death in 2011, Iger became a member of Apple's board of directors.

Jobs' disdain for Google was no secret. Though Eric Schmidt was a longtime member of Apple's board, and Apple and Google long maintained a no-poaching pact regarding employee hiring, the relationship between the two firms soured when Google unveiled its Android mobile OS.

Firmly believing that Google had ripped off Apple's OS and not wanting to replay the embarrassing Windows/MacOS lawsuit, Jobs vowed to destroy Android in the courts, threatening 'thermonuclear war' with the Chocolate Factory. Apple to this day remains tied up in legal battles with Android hardware maker Samsung. ®