Named to head Motorola Inc. Tuesday, Edward J. Zander said he didn't view the sprawling electronics company as a "turnaround" prospect, but rather as a candidate for a "turn-up." Zander, former COO and president of Sun Microsystems, has most recently been working as a managing director of a California venture-capital and restructuring firm.
In reaching out beyond its company ranks for a new CEO and chairman, Motorola passed over Mike Zafirovski, currently the Illinois-based firm's president and COO. At an analysts meeting Tuesday morning, Zander, displaying his well-known sense of humor, indicated he would work to keep Zafirovski in the Motorola fold. "We'll go to charm school together," said Zander. "We'll sit in the hot tub together."
Zafirovski said he was "disappointed" he didn't get the job, but indicated he would be a good soldier and continue working hard for the firm's success. Zafirovski had been given high marks by investment banking analysts for his work at Motorola ever since he came over from GE three years ago. Zander said he planned to "work closely" with Zafirovski.
Zander had been a prime candidate for the position shortly after Christopher Galvin, who had been serving as chairman, announced his resignation in September. Zander said he has spent the past several weeks studying the firm, its customers, and its products. He noted that he had visited Motorola's semiconductor unit, which is a candidate for a "spin-off."
As for the future, Zander said he would take a few months continuing to study the company. He added that he was particularly interested in Motorola's work in the mobile-communications area. He said: "We ought to be number one in cell phones."
He added that he believed communications wireless mobility represented a huge opportunity both on the infrastructure side and on the consumer side.
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