Icahn loses bid for Motorola board spot

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 5/8/2007

Concluding the months-long battle between Motorola and Carl Icahn, the billionaire Wall Street raider did not gain a spot on Motorola Inc.'s board of directors in a shareholder vote Monday.

The Schaumburg, Illinois-based company announced after its annual meeting in Chicago that, based on an estimate of the votes cast there, Motorola believes that stockholders re-elected the current board and did not elect Carl Icahn.

Icahn, 71, promoted himself in recent months as "an individual selected outside of the nomination process under which all board members are nominated by existing Motorola directors" who could bring the struggling mobile phone maker back to profitability. Last month, the company posted a less-than-stellar Q1 earnings report that included an operating loss of $366 million.

The vote's outcome comes as a major relief to Motorola's current management, which has staunchly opposed Icahn's boardroom aspirations in a very public war of words since he launched his campaign in January. Motorola's current board has pledged to regain pecuniary strength on its own, and has in recent months launched cost reduction measures and appointed a slate of new executives. 

"On behalf of Motorola's board of directors and management, we thank all of our stockholders for their continued support and confidence," Ed Zander, chairman and CEO of Motorola, said in a statement. "During the past few months, we have met with and listened to a large number of our stockholders, including Mr. Icahn, and we value their insights and perspective regarding Motorola."

For his part, Icahn proved to be a good loser after the meeting's close. "No, I think it's a good company," he said when asked after the shareholders' meeting whether he now plans to sell his 2.9 percent stake in Motorola, according to a Reuters report. "I think it's a very, very good investment. ... It's just a question of do they have good enough management to carry it home."

He reportedly said that his aggressive campaign to spur Motorola's management into actions benefiting shareholders was successful, even though he lost his personal bid for a boardroom seat.

The final results of Monday's vote will be released after the votes have been tabulated and certified, which Motorola said it expects to occur within a few weeks.