As Zac covered earlier, Activist investor and accountability guru Carl Icahn has been pushing for reform at Motorola (NYSE: MOT) for some time now. The guy has a little under 3% of Motorola's shares in his stable and as such, wants a position on the Motorola board of directors and some say into what is (not) going on at the company. Specifically, I think he is after Motorola CEO Ed Zander's job -- and he may get it.
Zander, an operational guru with a long history at Sun Microsystems, was hired in 2004 after the great grandson of Motorola's founder was told to pack his boxes and pick up his pink slip. Chris Galvin had Motorola involved in too many business ventures and too many silos of performance and management to deliver consistency to the shareholder. Zander seemed the perfect fit -- a tough Brooklyn-ite who whipped Sun into shape and knew his away around areas outside just ops and logistics as well.
The Motorola RAZR dropped to the market right after Zander arrived and became the best cellphone seller in recent memory (maybe ever). Zander happily took credit and all was sunny at Motorola. Fast forward three years: Motorola has not had another hit and South Korean competitors like LG and Samsung have been brutal on the company. Even higher-end handset outfit Sony Ericsson has done very well.
Motorola? They've seen profits plunge, and the future looks cloudy as well. What does Icahn want to do? Get a return on his investment, of course, but to do that he wants to toss some existing Motorola management aside and re-arrange things. If he succeeds, let's hope the actions are more than re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. With Icahn's track record, that probably won't happen if he is able to exert his influence shortly. After seeing the seething response to Icahn from Motorola based on today's annual shareholder meeting, this week ought to see some interesting things begin to shape up -- especially after the meeting this evening and the MOT board elections.
Zander, an operational guru with a long history at Sun Microsystems, was hired in 2004 after the great grandson of Motorola's founder was told to pack his boxes and pick up his pink slip. Chris Galvin had Motorola involved in too many business ventures and too many silos of performance and management to deliver consistency to the shareholder. Zander seemed the perfect fit -- a tough Brooklyn-ite who whipped Sun into shape and knew his away around areas outside just ops and logistics as well.
The Motorola RAZR dropped to the market right after Zander arrived and became the best cellphone seller in recent memory (maybe ever). Zander happily took credit and all was sunny at Motorola. Fast forward three years: Motorola has not had another hit and South Korean competitors like LG and Samsung have been brutal on the company. Even higher-end handset outfit Sony Ericsson has done very well.
Motorola? They've seen profits plunge, and the future looks cloudy as well. What does Icahn want to do? Get a return on his investment, of course, but to do that he wants to toss some existing Motorola management aside and re-arrange things. If he succeeds, let's hope the actions are more than re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. With Icahn's track record, that probably won't happen if he is able to exert his influence shortly. After seeing the seething response to Icahn from Motorola based on today's annual shareholder meeting, this week ought to see some interesting things begin to shape up -- especially after the meeting this evening and the MOT board elections.
