Motorola president and COO Mike S. Zafirovski will resign
at month’s end to seek a CEO position, a company spokeswoman said today.
The 51-year-old’s move comes as a new corporate structure initiated by CEO
Ed Zander takes hold. Zafirovski will work as an advisor to Motorola during
the transition.
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| Mike S. Zafirovski |
“We don’t intend to name a replacement,” Jennifer Weyrauch, a spokeswoman
for the mobile handset and networking equipment maker, told
internetnews.com. “Ed Zander will assume his responsibilities.”
Zafirovski will also relinquish his seat on Motorola’s board of directors
when his term expires in May. Weyrauch said Zafirovski does not have a new
job lined up, but would like a chance to lead a company as CEO.
“With the successful spin-off
of our semiconductor business, Freescale, and our new organizational
structure, we have a stronger foundation in place today,” Zafirovski said in
a statement. “This is the right time for me to start considering other
opportunities.”
Zafirovski, who worked at General Electric for 24 years before joining
Motorola in 2000, had lengthy discussions about the move with Zander, the
former Sun Microsystems executive hired to
turn Motorola around.
Motorola’s structural overhaul will take effect Jan. 31. The
presidents of the company’s business groups — mobile
devices, networks, government and enterprise mobility solutions and
connected home solutions — will report directly to Zander.
