Ed Zander is known as a bulldog, and he'll get the chance to prove it again in his new role as CEO of Motorola.
Few doubted that Zander would one day run a major technology company. In 15 years climbing through the ranks at Sun Microsystems, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native built a solid reputation as a hands-on operations guy with marketing smarts and unflagging energy, qualities that made him a rising star on every tech CEO recruiter's shortlist.
He left Sun in July 2002, after playing second fiddle to Sun CEO Scott McNealy for nearly five years and having no further prospects for internal advancement. This summer, he joined private equity firm Silver Lake Partners in time to help take struggling hard disk maker Seagate Technology public again.
At Motorola, Zander will replace Christopher Galvin -- the grandson of Motorola's founder -- who announced in September that he would resign once the board installed a successor. The move entails relocating to Motorola's headquarters in Chicago, where Zander will have to hang up his beloved golf clubs for much of the winter.
Zander has taken on what many analysts consider to be a hard case. Motorola is a 75-year-old technology icon that's stumbled, by some measures badly, racking up $6bn in losses and shedding 50,000 jobs in the past three years. Over the decades, the company has become known for developing major new technology but also for blowing some golden opportunities.
In an interview with CNET News.com editors Michael Kanellos and Evan Hansen, Zander discussed his plans for Motorola, the vision thing, lessons from Sun and the reasons for his departure.
Q: What is your vision for Motorola? Some people think of Motorola as a cellular company. Others see it as a communications company, and overall the image becomes sort of nebulous.
A: I think that's the issue. In some respects, they (the company) let the organisation define the company and not the company define the organisation.
What attracted me were five things. One, you're staring at a $26bn, Fortune 59 world icon. Very few guys in their lifetime get that offer. Second: wireless, mobility, communications, convergence, voice over IP -- this is a company that is rich in where the industry is going. The opportunities are awesome.
The third thing that attracted me was the fact that they have a $3.5bn R&D portfolio with a lot of patents. The fourth thing was a global brand. You can go to China; you can go to Europe, Africa, anywhere in the world and mention the word "Motorola". They've got a brand. It may not be the best in the world right now, but it is a global brand.
And the fifth thing is that I really liked the people. They want to win, and have a 75-year heritage of coming up with innovative things, and they want to go kick butt in the marketplace.
