Icahn ups stake in Motorola as shareholder vote draws near
By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- EDN, April 10, 2007
Billionaire shareholder activist Carl Icahn has bought more shares in Motorola Inc. in a move to gain even more control over the mobile phone maker, where he is seeking a position as a board director.
Along with several of his entities, Icahn has upped his stake in Motorola to 2.9 percent from 2.7 percent, according to an SEC regulatory filing the Schaumburg, Ill.-based company made Monday. The company disclosed last month that it was aware Icahn had been actively seeking to increase his amount of stock.
In January, Icahn launched a campaign for a spot on Motorola's board of directors; he has since lobbied hard for shareholders to vote for him, describing himself as "an individual selected outside of the nomination process under which all board members are nominated by existing Motorola directors." The shareholder vote on Icahn's nomination is slated for May 7. Motorola has reportedly urged shareholders not to vote for Icahn.
New York-native Icahn, 71, made a name as Wall Street raider after heading up a hostile takeover of airline TWA in 1985. Icahn, who ranked 53th on Forbes Magazine's 2006 list of the "World's Richest People," has led similar takeover attempts of oil giant Texaco and steelmaker USX. Icahn has not slowed down with time; in recent years, his wide-ranging investments have included Blockbuster Inc., Imclone, Time Warner Inc., and several Las Vegas casinos.
At the time of his board nomination in January, Icahn owned 1.39 percent of Motorola's outstanding shares.
Icahn is only adding to the turmoil at Motorola. In January, the company announced plans to cut 3,500 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce, after reporting dismal Q4 net profits of only $624 million, down a whopping 48 percent from the $1.2 billion it took in during Q4 2005. And last month, Motorola downgraded its outlook for Q1 sales by 13 percent due to what it said were lower than anticipated sales and operating earnings in its mobile devices business. For full year 2007, Motorola said it expects overall sales, profitability and operating cash flow to be "substantially below" prior guidance of sales of $46 billion to $49 billion.
