motorola

Motorola CEO Zander resigns

Jordan Golson · 11/30/07 12:42PM

Ed Zander is stepping down as CEO of cell-phone maker Motorola on January 1. He will be replaced by current president and COO Greg Brown. Zander plans to "go do the things that my wife and I have wanted to do now for years and years." One analyst calls the move a "slight positive" for the company. In its most recent quarter, Motorola had a 94 percent drop in profit — maybe it is time for some fresh blood, but promoting Zander's No. 2 hardly seems like the trick. (Photo by AP/Damian Dovarganes)

Tim Faulkner · 10/26/07 11:15AM

David Ulmer is the senior director of entertainment products at Motorola. Which must be a hard job, now that the cell-phone maker no longer makes phones that are entertaining. At the CTIA Wireless trade show, he bitched about Apple's iPhone: "We've yet to see Apple's SDK [software developers' kit], and I'm sure there will be some level of [Apple] control that goes along with it. I guarantee you that you will not see a Napster music service on the iPhone." That's what we call a feature, David. Bitches just jealous. [The Register]

Ed Zander spins his wheels

Owen Thomas · 07/19/07 12:38PM


Pity Ed Zander, who's learning that timing is everything. The Motorola CEO today had to confess to Wall Street that his company's cell-phone sales were off again and the business was looking likely to run a loss for the year. He arrived at Motorola from Silicon Valley in January 2004, hailed as a tech visionary. As sales of the Razr took off, Fortune asked if he was "the greatest CEO in America — or simply the luckiest." Neither, it turns out. Here's where Zander went wrong.

Eric Jackson strikes again!

Tim Faulkner · 07/11/07 05:06PM

Rumors that Ed Zander may step down as CEO of Motorola caused the stock to rise nearly 2% today. Whether or not the rumor is true, it demonstrates investors are no longer confident in Ed Zander's leadership of the chip and cell phone manufacturer. It also shows the growing power of the grassroots shareholder campaigns of Eric Jackson, who recently took on Terry Semel at Yahoo.