It looks like Motorola, headed by Ed Zander and the full Board of Executives, has pulled out a win against Carl Icahn. The billionaire investor was bidding for a seat on Motorola’s Board with an agenda to make some serious changes within the company. You can read all about Motorola’s argument against the move in an open letter to shareholders.
Once again I can’t bring any unique insight to what is essentially a financial matter. But there are two things I will comment on. First, I have no doubt that there will be changes within Motorola even without Icahn’s addition to the Board. The communications and entertainment industries are evolving too rapidly for Motorola not to make organizational changes that both reflect new demands and leverage the company’s strengths. I’d assert (with some bias, I admit) that those strengths include Motorola’s expertise in broadband (fixed and wireless) and video.
Second, isn’t it interesting where Mr. Icahn has focused his attention recently? Blockbuster, Time Warner and Motorola. At least one billionaire appears to believe that video distribution is an important business for investors.
