Rare photos show Steve Jobs having lunch with Google executives

Steve Jobs having lunch with Google cofounder Larry Page and then-CEO Eric Schmidt. Credit: Jason Shellan

Prior to Google's launch of Android, Jobs enjoyed a friendly relationship with Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. In fact, Brin and Page initially wanted to hire Jobs as Google's first CEO before tapping Eric Schmidt for the role.

On Monday, tech industry veteran Jason Shellan shared pictures taken during his last week at Google in 2007 on Twitter. Shellan worked as the company's Blogger team and eventually became a product and new business development manager at the Mountain View tech giant.

Shellan notes that he "surreptitiously" snapped the photos on a Palm Treo 680 held up to his face.

The images, which show Jobs wearing his iconic black turtleneck and having lunch with Page and Schmidt at a Google cafe, were snapped in August 2007, shortly after the first-generation iPhone became available.

Google's executive team maintained a close relationship with Jobs throughout the aughts and often sought his advice. Just a few months prior to Shellan's images being taken, Schmidt stood onstage at the Jobs-spearheaded unveiling of the first iPhone to speak about Google Maps and YouTube.

The relationship between Apple and Google soured in 2008, when Google launched Android — a product that Jobs called "stolen" and vowed to "destroy."