Date: 04-09-2008
Motorola has quelled repeated attacks from billionaire investor Carl Icahn for now, agreeing to back his two nominations to the company’s board of directors, conceding a limited defeat in order to avoid a second annual meeting showdown. Motorola named Keith Meister, managing director of Icahn investment funds, and fellow Icahn nominee William R. Hambrecht to its board. The company said that it will endorse the two for director slots at the May 5th shareholder meeting. Icahn, a well-known activist shareholder, had been demanding four board seats and had registered numerous complaints regarding many of the recent changes within Motorola. In its partial accession to Icahn’s demands, Motorola also promised to seek inputs from Icahn about the separation of its mobile phone operations from the company and the appointment of a CEO for the unit. Icahn, for his part, has agreed to drop his lawsuits against the company, sign a confidentiality pact, and not solicit proxies at the annual meeting.
