Motorola Chief Executive Ed Zander will resign at the end of the year and will be replaced by No. 2 executive Greg Brown, the company announced today. Zander, the former president of Sun Microsystems, rode a rollercoaster at the cell phone company as it soared out of financial woes thanks to sales of its hot Razr cell phone introduced two years ago. But for the past year, Motorola has had disappointing results and the 60-year-old Zander appears to be paying the price for shareholder impatience. Zander will serve as chairman until the annual shareholders meeting in May 2008.
Speaking for Motorola"s board, Samuel C. Scott III, lead director, said in a statement, "I want to take this opportunity to thank Ed for his vision, expertise and tireless commitment to Motorola. We greatly appreciate his many contributions and wish him all the best in the years ahead. Today"s decision is the culmination of a thoughtful and disciplined process of succession planning."